The Red Sox like being patient with their top prospects and seem to do everything in their power to make sure they’re not rushing them to the majors. But the team’s struggles at first base -- and offensively as a whole -- might accelerate Triston Casas’ path to the big leagues.
For Boston, the first base position has been an offensive black hole so far this season. Boston’s first basemen rank dead last in baseball with a .382 OPS. Bobby Dalbec, who earned the team’s trust with a tremendous second half a year ago, is hitting just .161 with three extra-base hits and three RBIs. Travis Shaw is, somewhat inexplicably, 0-for-17 with six strikeouts and no walks in six games. Of all the dead spots in Boston’s lineup so far, first base has been the least productive.
Making matters even worse is how Dalbec has failed to capitalize on the amount of traffic the Red Sox are putting on base for him. He is a dismal 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position with just two RBIs (one came in the eighth inning Wednesday on a sacrifice fly). He has had the second-most at-bats with runners in scoring position on the team (Kiké Hernández has one more) but only two hits to show for it. For a team that hasn’t been able to get much going offensively, that’s simply unacceptable.
And while Dalbec has improved defensively since the beginning of last year, he’s still not as reliable at first base as the Red Sox would like. Two plays -- the throw from Trevor Story in the 10th on Saturday and Dalbec’s failure to squeeze Matt Strahm’s flip in the eighth inning against the Blue Jays on Monday -- stand out. Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers have gotten most of the heat for Boston’s defensive issues in the infield. But Dalbec ranked last in the majors among qualified infielders with a negative-7 defensive runs saved in 2021. Inconsistency plagues him on both sides of the ball.
In some way, shape or form, a shakeup is coming at first base, and soon. When rosters shrink from 28 players to 26 players on Monday, Shaw seems like an easy cut. He provided a couple of nice moments late last season but looks like a shell of his former self. The only thing that might save him is that the Red Sox have no other natural left-handed complement for Dalbec on the 40-man roster. Still, it would be something of a surprise to see Shaw still on the team come Tuesday. Franchy Cordero, who is off to a great start with the WooSox (.914 OPS) is a natural fit to replace Shaw and comes with the added benefit of being able to play outfield. He’s off the 40-man but could easily take Shaw’s spot.
A bigger overhaul could be in play soon, too. The Red Sox can’t sustain this level of production from Dalbec and, as a result, might have to bring Casas up a little sooner than they planned. Casas’ average at Triple-A isn’t exactly scorching -- he’s hitting just .239 -- but he has four homers and three doubles and has been hitting line drives all over the ballpark. His approach is advanced enough to warrant a big-league call-up, as manager Alex Cora acknowledged Tuesday on WEEI’s Merloni & Fauria.”
“We know how good of a hitter he is,” Cora said. “You start looking at how hard he’s hitting the ball, if he’s chasing pitches, if he’s working the at-bats.
“This is a guy we think very highly of,” Cora added. “I think, offensively, he understands the strike zone. He hits the ball all over the place. I’m not saying he’s two days away from here, but he’s doing an outstanding job and he’s a guy we obviously count on. So far, he is doing an amazing job down there, just like other guys.”
Working against Casas is the fact that he only has played only 28 games at Triple-A. That’s in part due to his age -- he’s still just 22 -- but also because he lost a year of game action in 2020, then had a stop-and-start year in 2021 because he played for the US Olympic team. Still, Casas has met every challenge since being drafted in the first round of 2018, including hitting .372 with a .982 OPS in 21 Arizona Fall League games. If he’s not ready right now, he’s pretty close.
Promoting Casas would immediately inject life into Boston’s lineup and potentially provide a spark for a team that has looked like it desperately needs one in recent days. It would also signal that the Red Sox are giving up on Dalbec. If Casas were to be promoted, it would likely be in a full-time role. The Sox don’t want to call him up to have him sit on the bench.
As the Sox navigate what to do at first base, they’ll have to decide how long Dalbec’s leash is -- and how they envision his future. Attempts to make him more versatile by learning other positions like second base and outfield have largely gone nowhere. Theoretically, he could be a useful bench bat against lefties in the short-term, but he’s probably more useful as trade bait. It seems like Chaim Bloom missed an opportunity to deal him over the winter after he was one of the best hitters in baseball for a couple months last season.
Every bad game from Dalbec in the coming weeks will only make the calls for a Casas promotion louder. Bloom’s patience is sure to be tested. He knows Casas is going to be a major piece of Boston’s future. Should be be part of the present too?
Related links:
Alex Cora back with Boston Red Sox after missing 6 games with COVID; team was 1-5 under Will Venable
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