Why are the Boston Red Sox taking so long with Triston Casas?

The Red Sox second ranked prospect has been looking good in AAA... why isn't he getting the call up?

Sep 02, 2022

September is here which means the MLB rosters have expanded by two spots. Those two spots have already been claimed by Connor Wong and Eduardo Bazardo. Both of those guys deserve looks at the major league level based on their performances in Worcester, no doubt about that. But another big question still remains… when is it time for Triston Casas to get the call?

Casas has done just about everything you could ask for at the AAA level. He currently has an OPS of .871 along with 12 homeruns with 38 RBIs. He has walked an impressive 46 times to only striking out 67 times. Everything Casas has done since coming back from his ankle injury has passed the eye test of being ready for a promotion. That injury alone is really the only reason why Casas is even still at the AAA level.

Nobody is able to answer the question besides Chaim Bloom himself, but there might be a few points to consider about why this promotion hasn’t happened yet. One reason could be the fact that the team wants Casas playing everyday and getting consistent reps. That point is fair, but with Eric Hosmer being shut down for the time being, there shouldn’t be anyone worth playing at first over Casas in Boston currently. We have seen a lot of what Francy Cordero and Bobby Dalbec can and can’t do, it might be time to see what you have in Casas.

The only other reason to even consider is about 40-man roster purposes and the Rule-5 draft. Casas is not currently on the 40-man roster, so they would have to DFA someone to make room for him. There are plenty of good options on the big league club that should be DFA’d so that is not really the problem here. The bigger problem is the upcoming Rule-5 draft this offseason. Due to the lockout, there was not a draft before this season, so the Red Sox didn’t have to worry about losing guys in the minors they would want to keep. This year, the Red Sox have a larger number of prospects who would have to be protected or else be exposed to the draft. It could be as simple as Bloom doesn’t want to add Casas to the 40-man roster since he would not have to be protected in the upcoming draft. Bloom might be thinking there are a few other guys he would want to add to the 40-man so they can be protected.

While we can all still be hopeful of a call up sooner rather than later, Triston Casas is the future at first base and will be fun to watch for years to come. While you wait, enjoy the videos of him deleting baseballs for Worcester.