BALTIMORE — After missing nearly four months and 98 games, Triston Casas returned to the Boston Red Sox’s active roster Friday.
Casas landed on the injured list April 21 with a fractured rib cage, initially describing the injury as creating a “car crash within his body”.
After months of rehab, and drawing close to the end of the 20 days allotted for his rehab assignment in Triple-A Worcester, Casas was still feeling pain when making contact with the ball. But at some point Thursday night in his 11th game for Worcester, he decided he’d had enough.
“After my first at-bat (Thursday), something just popped in my head and told me I was ready to go. Nothing more than that,” Casas said Friday in the visitors dugout at Camden Yards, a few hours before the Red Sox outlasted the Baltimore Orioles 12-10. “Literally in the middle of the game, I told the trainers I’d be OK if this was my last (rehab) game. They were OK with that decision as well. The process happened fast.”
Casas didn’t have a standout night on paper in his first big-league game since April, but his presence in the lineup undoubtedly helped. He went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts in a wild slugfest of a game in which the Red Sox needed every pitcher in their bullpen along with four home runs to claim victory. It marked just their second win of the season in nine chances against the Orioles.
With eight runs in four innings against Burnes, the Red Sox handed the American League Cy Young frontrunner the worst start of his career. Casas didn’t have any big hits on the night, but the threat of his bat helped out Rafael Devers and Mastaka Yoshida.
“I think there are certain guys that are going to benefit from having Triston in the lineup,” manager Alex Cora said. “Raffy, hitting behind him, because Triston is going to see pitches and Raffy can do whatever he wants and be aggressive. Masa is going to benefit from those two at-bats, just watching.”
Devers, indeed, broke out of an offensive slump on Friday going 2-for-4 with a double and a homer. Yoshida collected three hits, including a key three-run homer in the fourth off Burnes that effectively ended his night.
This man just homered with a crayon bat. pic.twitter.com/OgnEHFjCsF
— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 17, 2024
“(Casas’) presence at the plate is amazing,” said Jarren Duran, who had his own three-hit night with a double and homer. “And just having his presence back in the clubhouse is amazing.”
The path for Casas’ return was a slow and arduous one. He progressed from a point where he couldn’t get out of bed or breathe without pain to now only feeling discomfort when he makes contact with the ball. It’s not ideal, of course, but where the Red Sox are in the season, with just under a quarter of the schedule remaining, he feels he can play through it without compromising his level of play.
“My bat speed numbers are back to where they were before,” Casas said. “That was what I was worried about the most was whipping the bat around at major-league speeds and I’m right back to it. The pain is what it is. It’s not going to bother me from playing the game that I need to and that’s what I wanted most. That was when I knew I was ready to come back was when I knew it wasn’t going to be a factor as to whether my result was based off an amount of discomfort. It’s tolerable. It’s manageable. But, it’s not going to be a reason why I don’t play well.”
Casas’ arrival, however, meant the end of Dom Smith’s time with the Red Sox. Smith, added to the roster shortly after Casas’ injury, hit .237 with a .706 OPS in 83 games with the Red Sox and provided solid defense at first.
“He was outstanding, outstanding,” Cora said. “It’s one of those that it’s a tough decision, but one that I think everybody knew was gonna happen. Roster-wise, it was hard to keep him with us, but he put good at-bats. He played great defense. He only had one bad defensive week, but after that, he settled down, made some picks at first base, for the guys around him, he was very important. In the clubhouse, huge.”
Casas’ long-awaited return bolsters the offense and the team is expecting another offensive boost on Saturday with the return of Tyler O’Neill. The outfielder has been on the IL with a leg infection since Aug. 4 but made enough progress the last two days to push up the estimated timetable for his return.
As the Red Sox offense continues to gain strength, its pitching situation remains precarious. Cooper Criswell, who came off the COVID-IL on Friday, served as the bulk pitcher after Brennan Bernardino and Zack Kelly combined to record the first three outs of the game. Criswell struggled, allowing six runs in 3 1/3 innings as the Orioles kept battling back from an early 4-0 deficit and then an 8-4 hole. Luis Garcîa, meanwhile, allowed a home run in his third straight appearance.
But the Red Sox offense had enough to pull off a much-needed victory against one of the best pitchers in baseball. In two previous starts against the Red Sox this season, Burnes had allowed one earned run over 14 innings.
“We’ve had a lot of games where our offense is rolling and we’ve had to fight through some innings and we’ve had to make some comebacks,” Duran said. “But I feel like we’ve had a bunch of these games in our back pocket, so it’s something we can reach back on whenever we need to.”
(Photo of Casas greeting Devers after Devers’ home run: Nick Wass / Associated Press)
