The Season Is Likely Over for Triston Casas

The Boston Purple Sox dropped to a .500 file over the weekend, however that little bit of unpleasantness was overshadowed by the lack of beginning first baseman Triston Casas to a severe knee harm. Working to first in the course of the first of a three-game set towards the Twins on Friday, Casas collapsed abruptly whereas attempting to beat out a sluggish curler fielded by the pitcher, Joe Ryan. It was revealed on Saturday that Casas had ruptured his left patellar tendon, and on Sunday he underwent surgical procedure. With out Casas, the second-place Sox should rethink their short-term choices at first base, ideally earlier than they fall too far behind within the AL East.

Boston might discover no trigger for optimism to place a optimistic spin on what occurred. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow got here proper out and mentioned the crew doesn’t anticipate Casas to return in 2025. So, should you have been hoping the primary baseman would possibly sneak again in time for the playoffs, that seems to be extremely unlikely.

So what does this imply for Casas? Effectively, from a baseball standpoint — moderately than a rehabilitation one, as I’m even much less certified to make medical pronouncements than Dr. Nick Riviera — coming into the season, ZiPS noticed Casas as a solidly common first baseman, with a projected slash line of .246/.350/.462, a 125 wRC+ and 1.6 WAR. That final quantity was on the low aspect just because ZiPS projected him to play in solely 108 video games, partially on account of his being platooned prior to now but in addition owing to his historical past of accidents. I expressed some concern about his profile within the preseason due to his struggles with making contact.

Casas was off to a sluggish begin this yr, hitting .182/.277/.303 with a bleak 58 wRC+. That’s worrisome for any participant, however much more so for a platoon first baseman with out a lot defensive worth. All 27 video games he began this season got here towards a righty. April’s gonna April, however the dangerous begin did put a little bit of a damper on his long-term outlook. Crank out some projections, ZiPS-o-Matic!

With out factoring in his harm, Casas’ struggles to begin 2025 precipitated a transparent drop-off in his next-five-years projections, although I don’t personally assume it was sufficient to basically change our notion of him. He’s nonetheless a power-hitting first baseman you’d be completely satisfied to have in your lineup, however he’s not a serious star to construct round. As an apart, ZiPS is way much less apprehensive than the Purple Sox are about letting Casas face left-handers; he’s projected for a .226/.317/.395 line towards southpaws in 2026. That’s not preferrred, but it surely’s additionally not an unusually giant platoon break up for a left-handed slugger.

ZiPS is conscious of accidents, however primarily in hindsight; it components within the time missed after the actual fact as a result of I don’t like being the place of diagnosing present accidents. However on this case, as a result of we all know that Casas’ rest-of-season projection is sort of definitely going to be zero plate appearances, I don’t thoughts breaking the foundations and telling ZiPS that 2025 is over and Casas missed greater than 100 video games with a knee harm.

As you’ll be able to see, the season-ending harm has barely soured his projection. But when there’s a silver lining right here, it’s that Casas’ sport isn’t actually primarily based on velocity, that means that ZiPS expects the general long-term affect of the knee harm to be much less for him than it could be for a sooner runner. In contrast, once I run the identical projection for Jarren Duran after giving him a severe knee harm — Sorry, Jarren! — his projected 2026 WAR declines from 3.5 to 2.2 WAR.

Casas should be again in 2026, however the Purple Sox should reply the query of what to do at first base for the subsequent 5 months. Romy Gonzalez has been Casas’ platoon companion this yr, and at .327/.382/.449, he’s hit nicely in his 55 plate appearances as of Monday morning. However he’ll most likely lose 100 factors or so from his present .421 BABIP, so it’s unrealistic that he’ll sustain that line. That mentioned, he has been making laborious contact this season, with a hard-hit price approaching 60%, up from 50% final yr, that means that his manufacturing is just not a stone-cold fluke, both. ZiPS tasks Gonzalez to publish a 107 wRC+ the remainder of the season, an inexpensive efficiency for a Plan B first baseman, however the Purple Sox needs to be a bit extra bold than settling for cheap, particularly when the participant in query is extra of a substitute utilityman than a real first baseman.

However whom ought to they aim then? That’s the tougher query. Rafael Devers would appear to be the possible inside possibility, and the crew hasn’t explicitly dominated that out, however I wouldn’t be shocked if the Purple Sox determined to not change his place once more contemplating how he responded after they moved him off third base after signing Alex Bregman. On this case, maybe discretion is the higher a part of valor. Boston additionally doesn’t seem like inclined to quickly transfer to prospect Roman Anthony to first base.

Outdoors the group, pickings are slim for the time being, as few groups have fully given up on the season. Andrew Vaughn might be obtainable, and his peripherals counsel that he’s carried out higher than his precise numbers throughout his brutal begin, however I’m unsure Boston actually desires a reclamation mission right here. The lately demoted Jake Burger would end in the identical objection. If the Nats are focused on buying and selling Nathaniel Lowe, he could also be the best choice on the market, and he’s not a free agent till after subsequent season, although that may make them much less more likely to transfer him. And the Brewers most likely aren’t but at some extent the place they’d let go of Rhys Hoskins for affordable. Anthony Rizzo continues to be a free agent, and Jon Singleton is now in Triple-A with the Mets, but when these are the 2 finest choices on the market, I believe the Purple Sox could be higher off simply rolling with Romy. (I wish to see Marcelo Mayer get a while at first, however that’s largely so I could make some type of lame Romy and Marcelo’s Excessive College Reunion joke.)

The harm to Casas doesn’t doom his future outlook an excessive amount of, nor does it shatter Boston’s probabilities to contend this season, however the Purple Sox have to resolve what they wish to do right here pretty shortly. Certain, the affect of any first base transfer could be restricted, however even a marginal improve might make a distinction in a decent AL East race.