The Triston Casas injury saga just got a lot more interesting.
Casas’ impending return to the team has been a long time coming. Perhaps a little too long in the eyes of Red Sox manager Alex Cora…
Asked about when the promising young first baseman would be ready to make his return to Boston, the Sox skipper gave an answer that might indicate that the team and the player are not on the same page.
"Right now, it's him. It's up to him," Cora told reporters. "He's healthy. Like I said, he's been taking grounders for a long time. I think the baseball part of it, the physical part of it, he's ready to go. Now the timing of it. He will let us know.”
The 24-year-old hasn’t played a game for the Red Sox since the 20th of April. Casas began his rehab assignment for his rib cartilage injury on July 30th, going 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
In seven August games with Triple-A Worcester since, Casas has slashed .296/.406/.481 with 13 hits — five for extra bases, and all doubles — across 27 at-bats with four RBIS, four walks and eight strikeouts.
The numbers would indicate that Casas is hitting his stride and should be getting close. Before Saturday’s game, Cora agreed — but said that his return still isn’t likely imminent.
“The quality of his at-bats are good, and he feels like he’s getting close, but we’ll see,” he said. “I don’t see him playing here tomorrow. I don’t see him playing against Texas, but if that changes it changes. I think he’s still working on his craft.”
“Working on his craft” is a good way to describe the approach Casas takes. He is meticulous. We learned that much with all the “dry swings” he told us about. For better or worse, that’s part of the package of who Casas is.
And from a team perspective, if he’s a player you want to keep in the fold and build around, it’s part of the price of doing business. But this is a situation where it seems both sides are in the “right.” Casas is right for prioritizing his health, and the team is in the right for playing things out and not rushing him back.
Story in motion
Trevor Story’s latest rehab arc, meanwhile, has seemingly shifted from pipe dream to real possibility...
Story will take a big step in his now expedited recovery from a left shoulder fracture in early April when he takes batting practice at Fenway Park before the opener of a three-game set against Texas on Monday.
Well, I just called it a “big” step. Cora took it a step further when he addressed Story’s situation on Friday…
“It’s a huge step. It’s huge,” Cora said. “Where we’re at right now, I’m truly believing, right now, that he’s going to be part of this.”
In Story’s own words, “things have been going well.”
“Like I said all along, if there's a chance to play, I’m going for it,” he told MLB.com.
It’s been quite the dramatic shift. As I wrote before, who knows what kind of impact Story’s return will truly make on this year’s team? It’s not likely that he hits the ground running, at least offensively, upon his return. He hasn’t proven to be that kind of player in his prior rehab returns.
If, somehow, the Sox could get him back into the fold in the next couple weeks — which still seems improbable — that gives you half a chance that he might be able to contribute in earnest in September.
With the team playing sub-.500 ball since the All-Star break, though, you’ll take all the help you can get…
Grissom outlook
Vaughn Grissom is finally healthy again — but don’t expect to see him at Fenway Park anytime soon.
Needing to make a decision following his rehab stint in Worcester, the Sox decided to keep Grissom in Triple-A after optioning him to Worcester.
"We've been talking about it for weeks,” said Cora. “We're trying to get this guy to who he is and there's a program in place. Obviously, he was disappointed that he's not going to be part of this right now. But I think he's making strides, offensively, defensively, running, getting stronger.”
Let’s call it what it is: a demotion.
Grissom’s start to his Red Sox career has been about as unceremonious as it gets. He gets hurt right off the bat in spring training, then doesn’t hit for a lick in the limited time we did see him in a Sox uniform before getting hurt again.
It’s certainly fair to say that his first season has been a lost cause, but I’m not anywhere near ready to say the trade is a bust.
Now, early on in the season, the successes of Boston’s rotation made the absence of the player they traded for Grissom less notable. But now, with Sox starters seemingly hitting a wall across the board, it sure would be nice to have a guy like Chris Sale anchoring the rotation right about now… wouldn’t it?
So, yeah, if you’re grading it on a 2024 only scale? It’s been a bust. But that’s not the way moves work. There’s more to this story to be told, good or bad. For what it's worth, Cora is still talking like the team believes Grissom will be part of the solution in the long run.
“Let's be patient here,” Cora pleaded. “He's going to be a big part of what we're trying to accomplish now and in the future. So, it's a good time for him to keep playing, keep building up and we'll see what the future holds.”
Green team nightmare
Remember that time when I pleaded with John Henry to stay far, far away from the sale of the Boston Celtics?
It turns out he isn’t a very good listener…
After putting out a murky non-statement around the time that Wyc Grousbeck announced that his family was putting the 18-time NBA champs up for sale, Henry is reportedly considering throwing his hat into the ring after all.
The New York Post reports that FSG is “seriously considering bidding for the Celtics.” Their reporting also notes that LeBron James might play a feature role in the process, despite not being able to own the team now as a current player.
I really can’t think of a worse combo for Boston sports fans to buy the Celtics…
We know that Henry doesn’t care about the fanhood element of sports teams — he sees the teams he owns as “assets.” About the only good thing I could say about this is that LeBron is at least a student of the game and loves basketball — and at least he’s had plenty of first-hand experience of the passion Boston has for the Celtics.
James’ seemingly inevitable foray into NBA ownership, the latest career parallel with Michael Jordan, will be put under the microscope, and I can’t imagine he would be a willing participant if the ownership group he’s a part of would want to strip down the Celtics’ admittedly extremely expensive roster.
That’s just not good for the King James brand. It might be good for the wallet, though, and we know that’s the No. 1 driving factor for Henry…
Hey, at least Jayson Tatum should be fresh enough to pitch for the Red Sox down the stretch after Steve Kerr’s repeated Olympic benchings…
Pete Fatse appreciation
We’ve talked a lot about how Andrew Bailey has revolutionized the Red Sox’s pitching staff this year, and rightly so.
Bailey has proven worthy of the respect he’s earned around the game after helping to elevate a seemingly lackluster rotation at the start of the year.
Yes, those arms are now hitting a wall, but I don’t think that should take away from the fact that he helped get the best out of the likes of Tanner Houck — now an All-Star — and Kutter Crawford, among others.
But, as BSJ member patsjam astutely pointed out in this week’s Q&A, we don’t really talk all that much about the job Pete Fatse has done as the Red Sox’s hitting coach.
A local guy who was relatively unknown in the game coming in, Fatse has been at the helm for what’s been a top five offense in baseball by some measurements.
Boston ranks fifth in the league in runs scored with 571, sixth in RBIs with 548, sixth in homers with 146, tied for second in batting average at .261, third in OPS at .771.
It’s been the offense that, as Bailey’s pitching staff has started to falter, has kept Boston in games — and by extension, the wild card race — recently.
And as impressive as all those stats are, I’d point to one indicator that’s even more impressive: he helped turn Jarren freaking Duran into an All-Star.
So, here’s to you, Holyoke’s own Pete Fatse. You deserve your flowers for the success the Sox bats have had this season. I’d imagine his stock is rising around the league, too…
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.