Triston Casas didn’t have the best first month of the MLB season, but Red Sox brass isn’t too worried about the first baseman.
Casas recorded three home runs and 11 RBIs off a .589 OPS in 27 games. The 25-year-old delivered big moments, but his lack of consistency forced his movement in Boston’s lineup away from the clean-up spot where he started the season.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow appeared on WEEI’s “Greg Hill Show” on Thursday and was asked if a “Plan B” at first base would be considered.
“We want to put the best team on the field that we possibly can, the one that gives us the best chance of winning games,” Breslow said. “I think we’ve seen some signs from Triston that things could be trending in the right direction over the last week and a half or so. It seems like there have been some in-game performances that have been encouraging, whether it’s a couple hits the other night, a couple home runs on the homestand. But more than that, just about being on time and getting his best swing off, not allowing hittable pitches to pass by in the strike zone. We’ve seen some more of that, and so we’re encouraged. But at the same time, our job is to put the best team on the field that we possibly can.”
Romy González serves as the backup first baseman, typically when the Red Sox face a left-handed pitcher. However, manager Alex Cora remains confident in Casas, and there are underlying metrics that support Breslow’s argument. But he understands that fans can be restless when they see Alex Bregman and Rafael Devers performing well.
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“So, we try to focus on some of the underlying process and make sure that the work day to day is good and that we’re seeing encouraging signs,” Breslow said. “But of course, it’s hard to stay patient. It’s hard to stay patient for all of us, Triston included, because we tend to want to react to what we saw in last night’s game. Just the nature of baseball and the baseball season is such that that’s not the best approach here, but that doesn’t make it any easier.”
It’s very possible that Casas’ early-season slump could be chalked up to the ebbs and flows of a 162-game season. The Red Sox will hope things turn around as they flipped the page to a new month of the MLB season.
