Once thought of as the future of the Red Sox lineup, former top prospect Triston Casas' major league career has been too plagued by injuries to properly evaluate. The 26-year-old first baseman suffered a torn left patellar tendon on May 2, 2025, and is still recovering from the injury.
But on Tuesday, the Red Sox provided an update that included a soft timeline on the sluggers recovery.
Back in February, Casas said he was told by medical professionals that recovery from a torn patellar tendon typically takes a full year (h/t Ian Browne, MLB.com), and he is currently about ten and a half months out of the injury.
On Tuesday, MassLive.com writer Chris Cotillo reported that Casas would remain in Fort Myers and "continue his progression for the next couple weeks". He also added that sliding was "the next big hurdle" and that extended spring training games would come after the sliding.
It's an encouraging update for Casas, and one that puts him right on track for that approximate one-year recovery timeline. But there's another problem awaiting Casas when his recovery is completed: as of now, the Red Sox have nowhere to play him.
Selected by Boston with the 26th overall pick of the 2018 draft, Casas quickly became an exciting prospect for his impressive displays of power. The slugger first appeared as a top 100 prospect in 2020 and remained on the list through 2023, ranking as high as the 16th best prospect in baseball prior to the 2022 season (h/t MLB Pipeline).
And at times, Casas has shown exactly why he was so highly regarded. After a brief cup of coffee in the majors in 2022, Casas performed well in 2023: across 132 games and 502 plate appearances, he clubbed 24 home runs and hit .263 with an .856 OPS, earning a third-place finish in American League Rookie of the Year voting.
© Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images
But between 2024 and 2025, Casas appeared in just 92 games total and the Red Sox determined that they could not depend on his availability. First base is now occupied by the recently-acquired Willson Contreras, who is unlikely to perform poorly enough to lose his starting spot.
Meanwhile, the designated hitter slot will be occupied by whichever of the Red Sox four talented outfielders isn't starting on the grass that day: Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Jarren Duran have all firmly cemented themselves as fixtures in the Red Sox lineup.
Casas should be major-league ready sometime in May, and it's entirely possible that the left-handed hitting slugger is able to rediscover his power at the plate.
But in a Red Sox lineup that's already overcrowded as is, it will take a dramatic return to form for Casas to force his way back into the starting lineup.
