Red Sox to activate slugging 1B after months-long absence

The Red Sox are expected to reinstate first baseman Triston Casas from the 60-day injured list Friday, reports MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. The slugger should be back in the lineup for Friday’s matchup with the Orioles and ace Corbin Burnes.

Casas, 24, had a slow start in 2023 before finding his stride with a breakout five-month finish to last season. He essentially picked up where he left off early in 2024, popping six homers in 90 plate appearances and slashing .244/.344/.513 before sustaining fractures on the left side of his ribcage and enduring a lengthy shutdown from baseball activities. The Sox have eased Casas back into action with an 11-game run in Triple-A Worcester, during which he’s turned in a hearty .300/.404/.550 slash in 47 trips to the plate.

The return of Casas should provide a thunderous boon to a Sox lineup that has received middling production from Dominic Smith in his absence. Smith hasn’t been an abject liability but has turned in a tepid .237/.317/.390 batting line that checks in 5 percent worse than the league average by the measure of wRC+. Others like Romy Gonzalez, Garrett Cooper and Bobby Dalbec have sometimes filled in but have struggled to produce overall. (Cooper is no longer with the organization.)

While Casas’ return isn’t likely to turn the tides in the division race — at least not directly, though he could undoubtedly impact the Orioles/Yankees battle for first place — he could very much be a difference-maker in Boston’s pursuit of a wild-card berth. The Red Sox are eight games behind the Yankees and O’s, who are tied for the AL East lead, but they’re a more manageable 2.5 games back in the hunt for the third wild-card slot. Getting a legitimate 30-homer bat back into the middle of the lineup — Casas has popped 30 homers while batting .260/.363/.493 in 154 games dating back to last season — has significant ramifications for the remainder of the Red Sox’ schedule.

Casas is on the 60-day injured list, so Boston will need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move to reinstate their prized young slugger. They don’t have an obvious candidate to replace him on the 60-day IL unless they’ve quickly determined that James Paxton’s partial calf tear is a season-ender, so a DFA or waiver placement could be in the offing.