BOSTON -- Friday night, particularly when the weather is nice, is typically the most joyous day of the week at Fenway Park.
But on this first Friday in May, it got quiet early, even as the Red Sox were on their way to a 6-1 victory over the Twins.
In the bottom of the second inning, first baseman Triston Casas stumbled across the first-base bag after hitting an infield tapper, suffering what manager Alex Cora termed “a significant injury” to his left knee.
When Cora addressed the media after the game, Casas was still at a nearby hospital. The Red Sox don't expect to have an update until Saturday.
Casas, who reached on an error by Twins pitcher Joe Ryan, was on the ground for several minutes while a team doctor checked on him.
Fenway became hushed, and Casas was put on a stretcher and wheeled past the dugout and some of the stands before being taken into the concourse.
Casas looked shaken as he left the field.
“It seems like he was in shock, to be honest with you,” said Cora. “He said right away that he didn't feel [his knee]. It's tough. He worked so hard, and we want him on the field. It was a hustle play, too, and that happened.”
Romy Gonzalez replaced Casas in the game.
“Horrible,” said Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman. “Obviously we’re all thinking about him and hoping for the best. [He’s a] great teammate and you hate to see that happen.”
After missing four months of last season due to torn cartilage in his left rib cage, Casas was aiming for a bounceback year in 2025.
Though he was off to a tough start (.182, three homers, 11 RBIs in 29 games), the Red Sox were hopeful Casas would regain his form and perform like he did in the second half of the 2023 season, when he hit well enough (.857 OPS and 24 homers in 132 games) to finish third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.
“Honestly, everybody is down or is sad. Just wishing him a speedy recovery and hoping everything goes well for him,” said starter Brayan Bello, who tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball.
The injury was also jarring for the Twins to witness.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” said Ryan. “We played in the Olympics together, so it’s always fun to face him. It’s an at-bat I was looking forward to today. He got me in Spring Training [with a homer]. Tonight, he hit a chopper. It bounced pretty high. I think I probably could have been a little bit quicker off the mound, made it an easier out for him and maybe something doesn't happen.”
While the Red Sox will regroup by Saturday and start the process of figuring out how they’re going to fill Casas’ spot on the roster, it was too soon for Cora to have contemplated any of that when he spoke a few minutes after Friday’s victory.
“We haven’t even met after the game. We’ll talk about it,” said Cora.
First base is not a position of strength for the Red Sox, and neither of their coveted top prospects still at Triple-A Worcester -- Roman Anthony (Boston's No. 1 prospect, No. 1 overall in MLB) and Marcelo Mayer (Sox's No. 3, No. 10 overall) -- have experience at that spot.
It remains to be seen if the Red Sox would entertain the idea of transitioning outfielder Anthony or shortstop Mayer to first base if Casas winds up missing a large chunk of time. In an interview earlier this week, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said the club had no interest in having Anthony learn first base.
An outside-the-box option would be to have Rafael Devers make the switch to first base. After playing third base his entire career, Devers was moved off the hot corner and switched to DH following the signing of Bregman, who is off to a torrid start (1.009 OPS and eight homers in 33 games) with his new team.
If Devers moved to first, it could open up the DH spot for Masataka Yoshida, who has been relegated to the 10-day injured list for the entire season because his surgically repaired right labrum isn’t allowing him to throw at full strength. Yoshida, who underwent an MRI on his right shoulder on Friday due to how slow his throwing progression has been, is fully up to speed hitting-wise.
All those issues will sort themselves out in time. Cora was emotional as he spoke about his first baseman.
“That’s the reason we don’t take it for granted, showing up to work every day and being a big leaguer,” said Cora. “And he loves being a big leaguer. He loves to come to the ballpark at 10 in the morning and leaves at midnight and does his thing. But for now, I think it’s going to be taken away. I told him he’s going to be back at one point.”