BOSTON — Triston Casas’ pregame rituals are structured, purposeful and time-consuming. In other words, he’s pretty busy in the hours leading up to a game.
So on Friday afternoon in the team’s clubhouse, as he hung around in a grey Boston Red Sox sweatsuit, his lack of hustling about was noticeable. Considering it hurts for him to breathe, he won’t be hustling anytime soon.
Casas doesn’t know if he’ll be able to return within three weeks or three months, but the damage to his rib cage is substantial.
“(The doctor) pretty much chalked it up to me being so big, rotating so fast, so many times that I created a car crash within my body,” Casas said before a 7-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. “It was a matter of time before this happened. He said it was something similar to like a pitcher needing Tommy John, just an inevitable thing that was going to happen sooner or later.”
Though Casas exited last Saturday’s game after just one at-bat, he said the injury occurred during the Red Sox’s last homestand, in his first at-bat against the Guardians’ Ben Lively, the same night Tanner Houck spun his shutout gem.
“I’m in a lot of pain right now….after that 3-1 swing just came up with a lot of pain in my midsection.”
Triston Casas on being placed on the 10-day IL with a left rib strain. pic.twitter.com/IQxbzCVVge
— NESN (@NESN) April 21, 2024
The ever-insightful first baseman explained there was no rib fracture, but the cartilage between his rib cage and sternum tore on a swing. The doctor who examined Casas said it’s typically an injury found in football and hockey players due to impact, but since Casas hadn’t had a collision, he surmised it was a condition Casas’ massive frame was more susceptible to.
The 24-year-old tried to play through the pain, realizing the team was already so beaten up, but could only endure it for so long.
“I was just trying to tough it out,” he said. “It’s frustrating because I was seeing the ball well. I thought I was hitting my stride a little bit offensively.”
That Casas is so on top of his conditioning made this injury all the more frustrating for a Red Sox team that can’t seem to shake the injury bug.
In their 27th game, the Red Sox have seen 16 players hit the injury list, including 14 still out. Three-fifths of their rotation has been shelved with right-hander Brayan Bello the latest, landing on the IL earlier this week with lat tightness. While Garrett Whitlock (oblique) is playing catch and progressing slowly, Nick Pivetta (flexor strain) has a 50-pitch live batting practice scheduled for Saturday, and manager Alex Cora said Pivetta could go on a rehab assignment next week.
“We’ve had some big guys go down,” said Tyler O’Neill, who just came back from a concussion that kept him out eight days. “That’s tough. It’s tough when that happens, but it’s up to the rest of us to step up and do everything we can to put good at-bats together and throw the ball over the plate, do everything we can as a team.”
The Red Sox may be getting some reinforcements soon.
Second baseman Vaughn Grissom (hamstring) had the night off for Triple-A Worcester but is scheduled to play nine innings in the field on both Saturday and Sunday, in what Cora called his “last hurdle.” Cora said they’ve been pleased with his defense and encouraged by a few stolen bases. They’ll evaluate where he’s at Monday, and Grissom may be activated by early next week. In seven games, he’s 5-for-22 with two doubles.
Infielder Romy Gonzalez had a cortisone shot in his injured wrist and is feeling better after still experiencing pain earlier in the week.
Still, several players aren’t playing at full strength, something that’s more typical of games in August than in April. Outfielder Rob Refsnyder has returned but is playing on a toe that’s not fully healed from a spring training fracture. Reliever Josh Winckowski has been pitching with bone chips in his ankle. Rafael Devers is managing a bone bruise on his knee despite returning to the lineup.
The injuries have forced some interesting lineups. Criticism of the front office’s roster construction is warranted, but Cora has been forced to figure out how best to deploy what he’s been left with.
That has meant little playing time of late for Masataka Yoshida. Friday marked the seventh time in the last nine games that Yoshida was out of the lineup. He’s started only three games since April 15. Cora said after Friday’s loss that Yoshida will return to the lineup Saturday with Devers returning to third base. Still, it’s been a tricky situation maneuvering through limited options, healthy or not.
“He understands. We talk on a daily basis,” Cora said of Yoshida. “It’s not like I set the lineup out and then don’t talk to the players. We’re in constant communication. He understands when Tyler came back, he needed to DH, and with Raffy obviously, he understands that. He’ll be ready.”
In the outfield, Cora has deployed Refsnyder against lefties and Wilyer Abreu against righties with O’Neill and Jarren Duran (who’s played every game this year) as fixtures. O’Neill has hit safely in each of his three games since returning from a concussion, including a solo homer Friday to account for Boston’s only run.
Meanwhile, Ceddanne Rafaela has shifted from the outfield to shortstop, starting seven straight games on the dirt.
There were no additional injuries Friday night, but there were more errors. Pablo Reyes’ errant throw with two outs extended an inning in which the Cubs added a run. That the Red Sox were shut down at home by lefty Shota Imanaga, a pitcher they pursued over the winter before he opted to sign with Chicago, rubbed salt in the wounds.
The Red Sox have gone 11-5 on the road but now are 3-8 at home.
“Injuries happen,” O’Neill said. “It’s a long season. We’re playing every day. Stuff is going to happen. We’re still over .500. Obviously, we want to be better than that, but tomorrow is a new day.”
(Photo of Triston Casas celebrating after hitting a solo home run April 19: Justin K. Aller / Getty Images)
