Triston Casas underwent wrist surgery yesterday, and with no timeline for his return, it looks like his season at first base for the Red Sox is completely gone. It’s a brutal blow, the latest in a string of setbacks that have plagued him, and it really highlights just how much this team has battled injury all year. No one expected him to be the centerpiece, but zero production? That’s rough.
The Casas Catastrophe & First Base Fix
Casas has had an absolutely miserable run. After rehabbing a knee injury from last May, he got hit with an abdominal injury earlier this year, setting him way back. Then, in July, it was the wrist, and now he’s gone under the knife. You just hate to see a player go through that, especially when the team can’t even give you a hint of when he might be back. Thank goodness Willson Contreras has been there to pick up the slack at first. Contreras has actually been better than Casas ever was, and he’s stayed healthy, too. He did leave last night’s game early, but the team confirmed it was just an illness, not another injury scare. Big relief there, because losing another first baseman would just be a punch to the gut.
Glimmers of Hope On The Mend
It’s not all doom and gloom on the injury front, though. Some key guys are making progress, which is huge for the Red Sox. Garrett Crochet has started throwing at 50-60 feet, which is a solid step. Roman Anthony is back in the batting cage, taking BP. And then there’s catcher Adley Rutschman, who’s working his way back from his own wrist injury. General Manager Craig Breslow made it clear they aren’t rushing him, even though the injury isn’t considered serious. Breslow said, “I talked to him earlier [Monday], and at this point, I am not going to try to put a timetable on what his return might look like. I think it’s best for him to get under our care and get our medical staff, our athletic trainers, our doctors’ hands on him, and from there we’ll figure out what the right course of action is here. But in talking to him, he’s very optimistic and he is saying he feels quite a bit better.” Getting Rutschman back will be big, and Breslow isn’t worried about him gelling with the pitching staff. He summed it up, saying building chemistry “is not nothing, but also wouldn’t want to overstate it. These guys are professionals, and they’ve thrown to different catchers… I think what it comes down to is building relationships and trust. And, like I said, everything that we’ve learned about Adley is he is fantastic at doing that.”
Rafaela’s Unstoppable Rise
But seriously, the biggest, most surprising news is what Ceddanne Rafaela is doing. For so long, we knew Ceddy as a fantastic defensive outfielder, a glove-first kind of guy. But if the rest of baseball still thinks of him that way, they are missing the boat big time. This dude has turned himself into one of the best all-around players in the game, hands down! He’s currently sitting third in all of baseball in position player bWAR. Third! That’s behind only Pete Crowe-Armstrong and Yordan Alvar. Think about that for a second. That’s a ridiculous jump for a player primarily known for his defense, and it shows he’s absolutely crushing it this season.
What a wild mix of news. On one hand, you’ve got the gut-wrenching end to Casas’ season, but on the other, there’s the steady march of key players back to health and the absolutely shocking rise of Ceddanne Rafaela. It’ll be fascinating to see how the returning guys slot back in and if Rafaela can keep up this insane bWAR pace.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Over the Monster.
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