The Boston Red Sox entered this year coming off a busy offseason. They revamped their pitching staff by adding Garrett Crochet in a trade with the Chicago White Sox and added another big name when they signed Walker Buehler to a one-year deal. Boston also boosted its lineup with the signing of Alex Bregman and the team has forged ahead despite some early season drama.
But with a 7-8 record after their first 15 games, the Red Sox have hit some turbulence. It includes the performance of one of their starters, who came off a troubling year in 2024 and offseason trade rumors have done a number on his stock just two weeks into the new year.
Red Sox First Baseman Triston Casas Struggling to Open 2025 MLB Season
Triston Casas is currently part of a nucleus that includes exciting young talent including second baseman Kristian Campbell, outfielder Roman Anthony, and shortstop Marcelo Meyer. But while Casas has a case to be the first baseman of the future in Boston, he hasn’t validated his stance in the early weeks of the season.
The 25-year-old has struggled at the plate to ring in the new year, hitting just .176/.236/.294 with a home run and three RBI in his first 14 games. More alarmingly, Casas has struck out 16 times in his first 51 at-bats and his average exit velocity has dropped from 90.2 mph last season to 87.1 mph this season according to Baseball Savant.
The struggles came to a head in Friday night’s loss to the Chicago White Sox when Casas went 1-for-4 with a double at the plate but had a costly gaffe when he misplayed a grounder off the bat of Chicago catcher Omar Narváez. The play should have resulted in an inning-ending double play but the White Sox strung three straight hits together to go ahead 6-0 on the way to an 11-1 win.
“It’s just a play that’s gotta be made,” Casas said via MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “It’s an unrealistic thing to do to point out one play in the game and say ‘That’s why we lost.’ But that’s a pretty clear one with that specific one. It pretty much changed the course of the game for the worst. I’ve replayed it in my head so many times already.”
It’s a continuation of the struggles that plagued Casas a year ago. Red Sox fans were optimistic about the 26th overall pick in the 2018 draft when he hit .263/.367/.490 with 24 home runs and 65 RBI during his rookie season in 2023 but a rib injury derailed any momentum early in the 2024 season.
Casas missed a total of nearly four months with the injury and played through pain while hitting .241/.337/.462 with 13 homers and 32 RBI in 63 games but his grittiness didn’t prevent him from being listed in offseason trade rumors. After a vote of confidence from president of baseball operations Craig Breslow, Casas tried to get a long-term contract to ensure his future in Boston but the two sides haven’t come close to finalizing a deal and the early-season struggles make things more complicated.
Casas may just need some time to sort things out but his Grapefruit League performance (.195/.340/.366, 2 HR, 5 RBI in 50 plate appearances) doesn’t inspire optimism. The young starter needs to find a way to put his struggles behind him or else his dreams of a long-term stay with the Red Sox could vanish.