Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffers ‘significant knee injury’ in 6-1 over Twins

The Red Sox returned home to Fenway Park following their latest road roadtrip to face the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. Brayan Bello posted a quality start, and the offense pulled away late in the game for a 6-1 win.

That was all overshadowed by the loss of first baseman Triston Casas, who was carted off the field in the bottom of the second inning following an apparent serious knee injury.

“It’s a significant knee injury,” confirmed Alex Cora immediately following the game. “He’s at the hospital right now, getting more tests and all that stuff. We’ll have more information (Saturday).”

Casas hit a short chopper to the mound and was attempting to beat out a throw from Twins starter Joe Ryan. Upon reaching the base, he slipped, and as he stepped on the bag, he fell hard to the ground, grabbing at his left knee.

“It seemed like he was in shock, to be honest with you,” said Cora. “He said it right away, that he didn’t feel it. It’s tough. He worked so hard. We want him on the field. It was a hustle play, too, and that happened.”

The buzz quickly left Fenway Park as Cora and the trainers swiftly rushed out to attend to Casas, who was lying on his back in clear distress.

“You put so much effort into (preparing) in the offseason,” said Cora. “I know how it works and everything that he went through in the offseason— getting ready for this. He was looking forward to having a big season for us. It didn’t start the way he wanted, but he kept grinding, kept working, and now this happens.

“We love (the game); we love the whole thing. But in the end, we’re human beings, and you suffer with them. It was tough to see it... It sucks, to be honest with you. That’s the part you don’t like about the job — when people get hurt and when you have to send people down. It’s pretty tough.

“Like I said before, they put so much effort and work into the offseason to try to play 162-plus, and then something like that happens. That’s the reason we don’t take it for granted — showing up to work every day and being a big leaguer. And he loves being a big-leaguer. He likes to come to the ballpark at 10 in the morning and leave at midnight and do his thing. For now, it’s going to be taken away, but like I said before, I told him he’s going to be back at some point."

Following Casas’ injury, the mood in the Red Sox dugout was quiet as his teammates were trying to process what looked like an injury that’ll keep him sidelined for an extended period of time.

Alex Bregman called the injury to Casas “horrible” after the game.

“Obviously, we’re all thinking about him and hoping for the best,” said Bregman. “Great teammate, and you hate to see that happen. We’re all thinking about him right now.”

Bregman added it was tough to focus on the game.

“For sure, it’s tough,” he said. “We’re a big family in here that comes to the ballpark every single day together, and to see one of your guys go down like that, it’s really tough.”

“It’s tough to see a teammate going down like that, he lost time last year with an injury and then this happened to him,” Bello said via interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “Obviously everyone is down and is sad wishing him a speedy recovery and we hope everything goes well for him.”

Trevor Story also rushed over to Casas as he was waiting to be carted off the field. A serious shoulder injury that Story sustained a week into last season kept him out of action for the majority of the season.

“We were all just in shock,” said Cora. “You don’t expect that. And when you see the card, that’s when you (realize), ‘Oh...this is more than a twisted ankle’ or something like that.”

POTENTIAL FIRST BASE OPTIONS

Cora didn’t offer any insight as to the plans for first base moving forward.

“We’re going to meet after the game, and we’ll talk,” Cora said.

The Red Sox already have Romy Gonzalez, who has been Casas’ backup, playing 60 2/3 innings at first base. He is the clear and immediate fill-in while the club better understands the severity of Casas’ injury.

Boston will promote infielder Abraham Toro to occupy Casas' spot on the roster, according to MassLive's Christopher Smith.

Toro is hitting .310 with two homers, seven doubles, one triple, 13 RBI, one stolen base, and 15 walks, with an .883 OPS in 28 games for the WooSox. He’s also played five games at first base, 18 games at third base, and three games at second. He will need to be added to the 40-man roster prior to Saturday afternoon's game with the Twins. 

Two other members of the 40-man roster could also get a look if Toro struggles in a platoon with Gonzalez are Nick Sogard and Vaughn Grissom. 

Sogard has played at all four infield spots for the WooSox but has mainly seen time at shortstop and third base this season. The 27-year-old has played 18 innings at first base for Worcester this season and six total games over his minor league career.

He debuted for Boston last season and hit .273 with four doubles, eight RBI, and a .650 OPS in 31 games. In 22 games for the WooSox, he has hit just .205 with a .622 OPS.

Grissom, who is a natural infielder, came to the Red Sox in the Chris Sale trade with the idea to be the everyday second baseman. Injuries plagued him last season, but he’s looked like a completely different player this season for the WooSox.

The 24-year-old has had a strong first month for Worcester, slashing .287/.369/.813, and has played four games at first base, making two errors in 27 1/3 innings of work. He’s primarily played second base, seeing three games at shortstop and four at second. Grissom offers positional infield versatility and another right-handed bat off the bench.

The Red Sox taking a look at Toro at first base with Sogard and Grissom still in Worcester taking reps at the position makes sense before adding a veteran like Anthony Rizzo, who remains a free agent after going unsigned all winter. He will turn 36 in August, and in the short term, if Grissom or another internal candidate struggles offensively or even defensively, it could be an insurance plan.

At the start of spring training, Rizzo told The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that he wanted to remain in the game but understands that the end of his career is on the horizon. “I’ve definitely thought about it. I think I have a lot to give to the game still.”

“But at the same time, if teams are not going to want to pay a few million dollars for veterans, I’ve seen it the last 10 years of my career. It’s what happens to the older guys. They kind of get squeezed. You’ve seen it happen more and more. I’m not naive to it. It could be it.”

The Sox could look to add veteran Dom Smith again, who is currently in the Yankees system, and could hold a clause to opt out of his deal.

Boston has been adamant that Roman Anthony will not move off the outfield to play first base. The team wants to continue his development as an outfielder before promoting him to the majors.

“I think just given (Anthony’s) age, there’s still an opportunity for him to develop in the outfield,” Craig Breslow said to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “Until you feel like that’s in a place where there isn’t just a massive opportunity cost to taking reps away, that’s where he should be focused,” said Breslow. “And also, I think obviously, at some point he’s going to be impacting our major league team, and to throw another variable into the mix probably doesn’t make a ton of sense when that transition in and of itself can be difficult at times.

Rafael Devers is unlikely to grab a first baseman’s mitt right now after he was told he was the club’s primary designated hitter. It’s highly unlikely after not seeing any anytime at first in the spring and now one month into the season that the Red Sox begin to experiment with that idea. If Devers were to play first base, it would open the door for Anthony to be promoted and mix and match him in the outfield and potentially at DH, or the club could activate Masataka Yoshida off the IL and have him hit.

HOW THE SOX WON ON FRIDAY NIGHT

In his third start of the season, Bello gave the Red Sox 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits and one walk with five strikeouts, his longest outing since coming off the injured list.

It was the sixth consecutive quality start by the Red Sox starting rotation, the club’s longest streak since Aug. 4-13, 2017.

“Electric,” Cora said of Bello. “He was good, good command of the fastball, him and (Connor Wong) worked great together, kept the ball down, off speed pitches to get back into counts; he was tremendous.”

Bregman's eighth home run of the season gave Boston the lead in the first inning. The Twins tied the score 1-1 on a Ryan Jeffers leadoff homer in the third.

The Red Sox offense finally broke through in the seventh inning, with a pair of singles from Connor Wong and David Hamilton. Ceddanne Rafaela advanced the runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and after Jarren Duran (1-for-5) struck out, Devers came through with a ground ball to right that had just enough to get through for a two-run single.

The Sox scored three more runs in the eighth on a pair of RBI doubles from Gonzalez and Hamilton and an RBI single by Duran.

Devers (3 for 5, two RBI) appeared to drive in a fourth run, but upon a review, Duran was ruled out on a close play at the plate.

Liam Hendriks worked the ninth inning and slammed the door shut on the Twins, helping the Red Sox secure a 6-1 victory and improve to 18-16, snapping their two-game losing streak.

With Walker Buehler on the injured list with shoulder bursitis, Boston will turn to Hunter Dobbins (2-0, 2.45 ERA) in Game 2 of the series on Saturday. He will be opposed by Bailey Ober (3-1, 4.13 ERA) on the mound. The first pitch is at 4:10 p.m. ET.