{"id":114186,"date":"2026-02-16T11:50:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=114186"},"modified":"2026-02-16T11:50:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T16:50:29","slug":"triston-casas-red-sox-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/02\/16\/triston-casas-red-sox-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Triston Casas be the Red Sox’s Lineup’s X-Factor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Boston Red Sox\u2019s offseason has gotten mixed reviews from the fanbase. It\u2019s no secret that people are disappointed by the lack of offensive additions the front office has made compared to the promises made at the beginning of the offseason. There were some bright spots, such as a deeper pitching staff. With names such as Ranger Suarez<\/a> and Sonny Gray<\/a> coming in, the rotation was definitely improved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Could Triston Casas be the Red Sox’s Lineup’s X-Factor?<\/h2>\n

The Issue<\/b><\/h3>\n

On the offensive side, however, the big area of need was about getting a power bat. When the Red Sox traded Rafael Devers<\/a> last June, based on his attitude, one could argue he needed to go. However, personality aside, his departure left a hole in Boston\u2019s lineup. His 162-game averages are 33 homers and 106 RBI\u2019s. That\u2019s a lot of production to throw away. So when the offseason started, thoughts of Pete Alonso<\/a> or Kyle Schwarber<\/a> coming to Boston and filling that hole seemed possible. But unfortunately, the Red Sox fell short of both.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No true power hitter was acquired this offseason, basically leaving the power in the hands of in-house production. With the most home runs on the team being 25 (Trevor Story<\/a>), it\u2019s understandable to think they\u2019re okay where they are now. Story wasn\u2019t the only one over 20. Wilyer Abreu<\/a> hit 22 in a season where he was riddled with injuries towards the end. Newly acquired Willson C<\/a>ontreras also hit 20 for St. Louis last season. But the Red Sox have been known for their power hitters. David Ortiz<\/a>, J.D. Martinez<\/a>, Devers, and many others in the past. It feels weird not having one going into the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Possible Solution<\/b><\/h3>\n

While Craig Breslow acquired Contreras to play first base for at least part of the year, the World Baseball Classic starts in a couple of weeks. This is important because Contreras is leaving to represent Team Venezuela. With him absent during Spring Training, this could open up the perfect opportunity for a familiar face, Triston Casas<\/a>. Although Casas did say he\u2019s not going to rush back from his injury, his impact on the lineup could be needed. He is fielding grounders and taking batting practice<\/a>, but the assumption is that he\u2019ll start the 2026 season on the injured list or even in Worcester. For those who don\u2019t remember, he ruptured his patellar tendon in May 2025. He\u2019s still recovering from the major injury, but one would hope that when he returns, he can make an impact on this lineup.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Strengths<\/b><\/h3>\n

For starters, Casas does have power when he\u2019s hitting well. In his first qualified season, he hit .263 with 23 homers and 21 doubles. While he may not help batting-wise, he also has a career on-base percentage of .348, helping set up scoring opportunities for the team. The fact that he\u2019s taking grounders is good too; in his career, he\u2019s barely under the league average for fielding% among first basemen (.993 compared to the league average of .994). Granted, if he comes back, he might have to split time. But maybe splitting time can help produce better numbers, batting-wise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Weaknesses<\/b><\/h3>\n

The glaring issue is how Casas started the 2025 season. Before the injury, he was having a <\/span>horrible <\/span><\/i>start. He had a 2-3 hit-to-strikeout ratio (18 hits\/27 strikeouts), only 11 walks, and an abysmal .182 batting average. But if you remember properly, no one from that lineup really had a great start to that season. Devers had a historic low, going 0-21 to start the season. Everyone really started catching on fire in late May. That\u2019s not really an excuse for someone who\u2019s struggling, but it\u2019s not like he was the only one. Also, Casas isn\u2019t really a pull hitter or an opposite-field hitter. The majority of his career hitting has been to center.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Pull%: 30.4%<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Cent%: 50.8%<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Oppo%: 13.8%<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    In comparison, his opposite field hit percentage is far below the league average at 18.1%. His strikeout percentage is also not great, at 26.6%, which is 4.1% above the league average. He wasn\u2019t the best defensively either, with a DRS of -4 through 29 games this past season. He only matched that total in 2023, when he played 132 games. Contraeras had -1 last year in far more games for the 2025 season (120).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Is Casas The Answer?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

    So the question arises: if there are more negatives about him, is Casas really the answer? And the short answer is, yes. Once he recovers, there is a good chance he could work his way into the lineup. Whether as a DH or a guy splitting time at first, Casas could contribute to this team. There\u2019s an argument to be made that not playing every day could mess things up, but it could also help. His on-base percentage is pretty good every year. It\u2019s Casas\u2019 bat that\u2019s the issue currently. Maybe fewer at-bats make him focus on his production more, and eventually, he could slide into the designated hitter spot or at first base should anything happen. At his best, he’s a very good power bat, and Casas is only 26. It\u2019s not the time to give up on him yet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u00a0Main Photo Credits: Eric Canha-Imagn Image<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Boston Red Sox\u2019s offseason has gotten mixed reviews from the fanbase. It\u2019s no secret that people are disappointed by the lack of offensive additions the front office has made compared to the promises made at the beginning of the offseason. There were some bright spots, such as a deeper pitching staff. With names such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5767,"featured_media":114192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1071],"tags":[2021],"class_list":["post-114186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redsox","category-mlb","tag-triston-casas"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114186"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114186\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114193,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114186\/revisions\/114193"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}