“It will likely be some time” earlier than Triston Casas is prepared for a minor league rehab project, Purple Sox supervisor Alex Cora informed the Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams and different reporters on Friday. Casas hasn’t performed since April 20 as a result of a rib fracture and torn rib cartilage, and he’s already effectively past even the broad 3-to-9 week timeframe Casas initially floated three months in the past, although the primary baseman famous that the character of the damage led to a whole lot of fluidity.
In yesterday’s replace, Cora stated Casas was taking smooth toss swings and is hitting off a tee, however remains to be coping with some nagging discomfort in his aspect. Till that discomfort solely subsides, Casas and the Sox can’t actually transfer ahead with any form of concrete plan for even a steadier ramp-up, not to mention any minor league rehab work. Cora did say that Casas would play once more in 2024, however “we don’t know but” when a return was possible.
Casas completed third in AL Rookie of the 12 months voting in 2023, and was off to a scorching begin (.244/.344/.513 with six dwelling runs) in his first 90 plate appearances this season. Dominic Smith and several other different gamers have gotten time at first base in Casas’ absence, however since no person has been producing, it stands to cause that the Purple Sox might goal a primary base-capable participant on the deadline if Casas remains to be a number of weeks away from factoring into the membership’s plans.
Some extra surprising later-season reinforcements might come from Trevor Story, who informed reporters (together with MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam) on Friday that he and the Purple Sox had been “having conversations about” Story getting again onto the sector earlier than the 2024 marketing campaign is over. Each Story and Cora stopped wanting saying {that a} return was within the playing cards, but it’s notable that Story has made such high quality progress rehabbing what was regarded as a season-ending shoulder surgical procedure in April.
“Simply getting the power again and getting the movement again…I’ve made a whole lot of actually good strides there,” Story stated. “It’s shut, man. It’s shut. Particularly from the way it was early on. It was not in fine condition. It’s been a loopy turnaround the final month and a half and we’re driving that momentum.”
Story injured his shoulder whereas diving for a grounder in simply his eighth sport of the season, persevering with what has been an injury-plagued tenure in Boston for the previous All-Star. Since inking a six-year, $140MM free agent deal in March 2022, Story has performed in solely 145 video games — UCL surgical procedure value him all however 43 video games of the 2023 season, and wrist and heel accidents restricted him to 94 appearances in 2022. Unsurprisingly, these well being woes have led to subpar efficiency when Story has been capable of play, as he has a modest .227/.288/.394 slash line in 598 PA in a Purple Sox uniform.
Bryan Mata can be no stranger to accidents, as Tommy John surgical procedure and a teres main pressure sidelined him for many of the 2021-23 seasons. This yr, hamstring and lat issues emerged to maintain Mata once more spending many of the yr rehabbing, and now his newest rehab project has been halted as a result of proper elbow irritation. Mata was proper on the finish of the 30-day window for that project, although his newest damage now resets the clock and Mata will have the ability to begin one other 30-day rehab project when he is ready to get again onto the mound.
Although he has but to make his MLB debut, Mata is out of minor league choices, leaving Boston in a little bit of a quandary with regards to his future. The Purple Sox can’t assign him to the minors with out first designating the right-hander for project and exposing him to waivers, so when Mata is lastly able to play, the Purple Sox must put him on the energetic roster or go the DFA route.
Whereas getting wholesome has clearly been extra necessary than the on-field outcomes throughout Mata’s rehab work, he has a 4.50 ERA over 22 whole innings for 4 totally different Purple Sox minor league associates this season, with a 19.15% strikeout fee. It isn’t practically the shape that Mata confirmed in his previous days as one among Boston’s prime pitching prospects, and with one other setback once more stopping his progress, it’s nonetheless a query about when or even when Mata may ultimately floor as a part of the staff’s huge league employees.
In different Purple Sox information, the staff was recognized to have been enthusiastic about Teoscar Hernandez final offseason, and the slugger stated this week in an look on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast (hat tip to WEEI’s Rob Bradford) that the Sox and Dodgers had been the 2 finalists for his providers. Hernandez stated the Purple Sox provided a two-year, $28MM contract, however he as a substitute opted for a one-year, $23.5MM take care of Los Angeles.
“On the finish, I believed [the Red Sox] had been going to make it, however sadly they needed to wait as a result of they needed to make some strikes and different stuff,” Hernandez stated. “I couldn’t wait any longer, in order that’s why I resolve in the mean time to go to the Dodgers.”
Hernandez went into the winter looking for a three-year contract, however when neither Boston or every other suitor was prepared to ensure a 3rd yr, he as a substitute opted for the one-year contract with the Dodgers, to permit for an opportunity at a rebound season and a fast return to free company subsequent winter. The technique has labored out fairly effectively, as Hernandez has hit 19 homers with a .261/.326/.476 slash in 406 PA for Los Angeles, and now has a a lot stronger case for a three-year pact as he enters his age-32 season.
Past the contractual logistics, Hernandez additionally admitted that the Dodgers’ win-now method and monitor file of success additional attracted him to the group, although he was fast to notice that “the Purple Sox are actually good proper now they usually have superb gamers.” The Sox and newly-hired chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had been usually criticized for his or her comparatively low-key offseason that didn’t see a whole lot of high-dollar splurges, but Boston has a 53-43 file and is in possession of an AL wild card berth.
