“Red Sox Manager Reveals Concerns Over Injured First Baseman; Depth Woes Intensify Amid Injury Crisis”

“It will be a while before Triston Casas is ready for a minor league rehab assignment,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora told the Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams and other reporters on Friday. Casas, who hasn’t played since April 20 due to a rib fracture and torn rib cartilage, is already well beyond the initial 3-to-9-week timeframe. The injury’s nature has resulted in a lot of uncertainty.

In Friday’s update, Cora mentioned that while Casas was taking soft toss swings and hitting off a tee, he was still experiencing some nagging discomfort. Until that discomfort completely subsides, neither Casas nor the Sox can move forward with a concrete plan for a steady ramp-up, let alone any minor league rehab work. Cora did confirm that Casas would play again in 2024, but the exact timing of his return is still unknown.

Casas finished third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2023 and started strong this season with a .244/.344/.513 slash line and six home runs in his first 90 plate appearances. In his absence, Dominic Smith and several other players have taken turns at first base, but none have been particularly productive. As a result, the Red Sox might consider acquiring a first base-capable player at the deadline if Casas remains several weeks away from returning.

Unexpected later-season reinforcements might come from Trevor Story, who told reporters (including MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam) on Friday that he and the Red Sox were discussing a possible return to the field before the 2024 campaign ends. Both Story and Cora stopped short of confirming a return, but Story has made significant progress rehabbing what was initially thought to be a season-ending shoulder surgery in April.

“Just getting the strength back and getting the motion back…I’ve made a lot of really good strides there,” Story said. “It’s close, man. It’s close. Especially from how it was early on. It was not in good shape. It’s been a crazy turnaround the last month and a half, and we’re riding that momentum.”

Story injured his shoulder while diving for a grounder in his eighth game of the season, continuing an injury-plagued tenure in Boston. Since signing a six-year, $140M deal in March 2022, Story has played only 145 games due to UCL surgery, wrist, and heel injuries. These health issues have led to subpar performance, as he has a modest .227/.288/.394 slash line in 598 PA in a Red Sox uniform.

Bryan Mata is also no stranger to injuries, with Tommy John surgery and a teres major strain sidelining him for most of the 2021-23 seasons. This year, hamstring and lat problems have kept Mata rehabbing, and now his latest rehab assignment has been halted due to right elbow inflammation. Mata’s injury resets the clock on his 30-day rehab assignment, giving him another 30 days to return to the mound.

Mata, who has yet to make his MLB debut, is out of minor league options, presenting a dilemma for Boston. The Red Sox must either put him on the active roster or designate him for assignment and expose him to waivers once he is ready to play. Although his on-field results during rehab have been secondary to getting healthy, Mata has posted a 4.50 ERA over 22 innings for four different Red Sox minor league affiliates this season, with a 19.15% strikeout rate, which isn’t reflective of his past form as one of Boston’s top pitching prospects.

In other Red Sox news, the team was interested in Teoscar Hernandez last offseason. The slugger revealed on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast (hat tip to WEEI’s Rob Bradford) that the Sox and Dodgers were the two finalists for his services. Hernandez said the Red Sox offered a two-year, $28M contract, but he opted for a one-year, $23.5M deal with Los Angeles.

“At the end, I thought [the Red Sox] were going to make it, but unfortunately, they had to wait because they had to make some moves and other stuff,” Hernandez said. “I couldn’t wait any longer, so that’s why I decided at the moment to go to the Dodgers.”

Hernandez had been seeking a three-year contract, but when no suitor guaranteed a third year, he chose the one-year deal with the Dodgers to allow for a rebound season and a quick return to free agency next winter. This strategy has paid off, as Hernandez has hit 19 homers with a .261/.326/.476 slash in 406 PA for Los Angeles, making a stronger case for a three-year deal as he enters his age-32 season.

Besides contractual logistics, Hernandez noted that the Dodgers’ win-now approach and track record of success attracted him. However, he acknowledged that the Red Sox are “really good right now and have amazing players.” The Sox, under newly hired chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, were criticized for a relatively low-key offseason without many high-dollar splurges. Despite this, Boston has a 53-43 record and holds an AL wild-card berth.