On Wednesday, the Red Sox (10-10) narrowly escaped dropping their third consecutive series, beating the Rays 1-0 in Tampa, taking two out three from their division rival. Boston gets the series win despite being outscored at George Steinbrenner Field 20-9 over the last three days.
A win is a win, but Boston’s offense remains an issue as the Red Sox head back to Fenway for a three-game series with the White Sox (4-13) starting Friday night.
On Thursday, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was asked on The Greg Hill Show about one the glaring weaknesses of Boston’s offense to this point in 2025.
“Did Triston Casas place himself down to the seven-hole, or was that Alex Cora’s decision in the lineup?” asked WEEI’s Chris Curtis.
“You know, I think what I know is that Triston is a big part of what we’re going to do here,” said Breslow. “And I think we saw, even just through the course of the series in Tampa, much better at bats.
“He’s getting his A-swing off. He was not chasing pitches outside of the strike zone the last couple of nights. Didn’t have as many balls fall in as he would like, and we would like, but he’s hitting the ball hard. And that said, when it comes to lineup construction, that is Alex’s job.”
In 70 plate appearances this season, Casas is hitting just .172 with an on-base percentage of .243. He has 11 hits, 1 home run, 3 runs batted in, 5 walks and a slugging percentage of just .266.
This production at the plate is well-below his career averages coming into 2025, which had him with a batting average of .250, on-base percentage of .357 and a slugging percentage of .473.
After finishing in third place for American League Rookie of the Year in 2023, Casas came into 2024 with real expectations to be a true consistent power bat to pair with Rafael Devers in the batting order. And while he flashed that ability at times last season, injuries held Casas to just 63 games in the majors and were seen as the principal reason for his regression as a hitter.
The injured ribs are no longer an excuse as the 25-year-old struggles to return to his 2023 form in 2025.
With the team playing .500 baseball in a wide-open American League, it’s fair to wonder how much more rope the organization will give Casas to stabilize at the plate, especially when there might be other viable options available.
“Should Triston Casas’ struggles continue, what is more likely - Devers at first, or Roman Anthony at first?” asked Curtis.
“I mean, I think what we will do is everything in our power to ensure that Triston’s struggles don’t continue.” Breslow responded.
The idea of baseball’s top-rated prospect in Roman Anthony coming up to the big leagues to play first base is something Red Sox fans and media have been speculating about throughout much of spring training and into the early part of this season. Even though Anthony is an outfielder by trade, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound 20-year-old is seen as having the build of a first baseman at the major league level.
On top of the size, Anthony’s production through 46 at bats for the Worcester Red Sox this season has fans and media wondering if his bat would be more consistent for Boston this season than Casas’:
.283 BA
2 HR
7 RBI
.441 OBP
.941 OPS
13 hits
8 runs
“How long can you allow the ‘full-mash’ of Roman Anthony to be wasted in Worcester?” asked WEEI’s Greg Hill.
“Yeah, well I don’t think we want to waste anything,” said Breslow. “You know, I think what we want to make sure is that when Roman comes to the big leagues, he’s able to step in and be successful. That there is clear opportunity for him to get the runway that he’ll need as a 20-year-old.
“I think there are still some development opportunities that he is tackling in Worcester right now, but we are really excited about what Roman has done thus far, and what we think he’s capable of.”
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