Boston Red Sox fans assumed the worst when Triston Casas collapsed while legging out an infield single on Friday night. The worst case was confirmed Saturday morning when the team announced that Casas ruptured his left patellar tendon. The injury will almost certainly cost Casas the remainder of the 2025 season and, for the second straight year, leaves a big hole in the Red Sox's lineup at first base.
In the meantime, the Sox are replacing Casas on the roster with veteran first baseman Abraham Toro.
Toro has appeared in 365 Major League games since 2019, mostly for the Seattle Mariners. However, he has yet to find much success at the big league level, with a cumulative slash line of .220/.285/.353. Toro and Romy Gonzalez should be expected to split time at first base for now. But, much like Dom Smith last season, Toro is not a high-upside Casas replacement. He is a competent veteran who can offer replacement-level performance in a temporary role.
However, the team could have a better alternative available in Triple-A, and it's not Roman Anthony.
Casas Injury Could Give Vaughn Grissom Another Chance With Red Sox
Vaughn Grissom has quickly become a forgotten man in the Red Sox's system. After being acquired for Chris Sale last off-season, Grissom was expected to be the team's everyday second baseman for years to come. But Grissom struggled while battling injuries throughout 2024,and has now seen Kristian Campbell cement himself as the team's second baseman of the future in 2025.
This has left Grissom without an obvious path to playing time in an organization that invested heavily in him just last year. And with five years of team control remaining, the Sox should still be looking to develop Grissom into a productive Major League player. To that end, Grissom has been getting playing time all over the infield to start the year for the WooSox in Triple-A. While the majority of his innings have come at second base, Grissom has made four starts each at first and third base.
Despite learning new positions on the fly, Grissom is off to an excellent start at the plate. Through 28 games in Worcester, Grissom is slashing .287/.369/.444 with 3 home runs.
While Grissom remains unproven at the Major League level, he likely offers a higher offensive ceiling than Abraham Toro. Grissom has long been touted as a bat-first prospect who has yet to find his footing at the game's highest level, while Toro is a known commodity at this point. If Grissom can live up to some of his potential, he is the better option for a Red Sox team that is trying to win right now.
Giving playing time to Grissom is also a better long-term decision for the organization. While he is unlikely to win back the second base job, Grissom could have a future as a utility man with an above-average bat. But even if Boston is not his long-term home, a strong showing from Grissom in 2025 could help the team recover some value from the ill-fated Chris Sale trade. There is no question that Grissom's value has tanked since that trade. But he is still young, and has a strong track record in the minor leagues. If he can prove that he's capable of hitting Major League pitching this year, the team could trade him to fill another need at this season's trade deadline or next off-season.
So why have they given the nod to Toro over Grissom as the initial Casas replacement? The answer is that the team probably wants Grissom to gain more experience at first base before playing him there in a Major League game. Toro has logged over 1000 innings at first in his Major League career, while Grissom has a total of just 27 minor league innings at the position.
It seems likely that the WooSox will start to give Grissom even more playing time at first in an effort to accelerate his progress there. If that experiment goes well, then Boston will have no excuse not to call him up and give him another audition at the Major League level.