Bad news struck the Boston Red Sox on Friday night, as Triston Casas suffered a torn patellar tendon running to first base. Unfortunately, because of this, he will be missing the rest of the 2025 season. While his start to the season was pretty disappointing, there’s no doubt that there’s a void at first base despite Boston’s endless depth. They have one of the best farm systems in baseball, along with utility players on the bench that they can utilize. But who could replace Casas at first?
Short Term Options at First Base for the Red Sox
Romy Gonzalez
This is the immediate option for the Red Sox, and Gonzalez has already been starting at first base since Saturday. Since subbing in for Casas on Friday, he’s totaled four singles and a double with two RBI. This includes the three-hit game he had against the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. In his minimal 55 plate appearances, he’s been batting .382 with a 58% hard-hit rate and a career-low strikeout rate of 22%. It’s safe to say he’s been hitting the cover off the ball, just not over the fence. But that’s okay because the Red Sox have plenty of power in their lineup. As long as he gets on base, there shouldn’t be a big issue here as long as the guys behind him can deliver.
Abraham Toro
Abraham Toro is another option, as he was the call-up from Triple-A Worcester to fill in the last roster spot. That’s not to say it wasn’t earned, however. Although Boston fans yearned for Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer, Toro has surprisingly been raking at Triple-A. As a former major leaguer, he won’t be pressured to deliver for the team right away. He’s a 28-year-old journeyman with a chip on his shoulder, yes, but he’s experienced at the major league level. So with that in mind, he’s leading the team in batting average, hitting .310. In his 100 at-bats, he’s totaled 31 hits and 13 RBI. He’s not afraid to walk either, as his batting stance crowds the inside half of the plate. This pressures pitchers to aim for that outside corner, which for a pitcher is pretty difficult to do. As an interim spot on the roster, he’ll do fine.
Where were you when the Abraham Toro era started? pic.twitter.com/aQnhqF1tBj
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) May 6, 2025
Possible Acquisitions
Anthony Rizzo
As a former prospect for the Red Sox in 2010, Anthony Rizzo has had a storied career since then. Being involved in the Adrian Gonzalez trade that sent him to the San Diego Padres, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 2012. In those next eight years as a Cub, he created milestones. He slugged 242 home runs in that time span, was consistently top 10 in the MVP voting from 2014 to 2016, and helped lead the 2016 Cubs to their first World Series Championship in 108 years, breaking the biggest curse in baseball history.
Since getting traded in 2021 to the New York Yankees, he has significantly declined up to this season, and is currently a free agent. But one thing that will always be associated with Rizzo is his defense at first base. It would fill a hole at first, more than Casas could from that standpoint.
Jon Singleton
This would be more of a DH-like acquisition for the Red Sox, but Jon Singleton is an ideal acquisition for them. Given that he has serious pull power built for Fenway Park, he can be a good bench bat for them, but not a full-time starter. He slugged 13 homers for the Astros in 119 games last season but had 111 strikeouts. So far this year, he has seven homers with the New York Mets’ Triple-A affiliate, the Syracuse Mets. His power is undeniable, and that would be a good void to fill with Casas no longer in the lineup. If this were the case, he’d have to be a DH. This means they may have to move Devers to first, and speaking of which…
Roster Movement
Move Rafael Devers to 1B
There have been grumblings about what the Red Sox could do to find a better replacement. Some will assume that Rafael Devers will play first base. But according to manager Alex Cora, he originally wanted Devers at DH. However, just recently, he’s seemingly warming up to the idea. Honestly, that would be a good alternative. If this idea has legs, who will play DH when he’s at first? It could be the aforementioned Jon Singleton, but again, not as an everyday starter. All the bench players called up, like Abraham Toro and Blake Sabol, are not everyday starters. This means that to find a more sustainable approach, they need to move someone else to DH and alternate with Devers.
One possibility is that Cora would shuffle players around. He could move Trevor Story to DH, move Ceddanne Rafaela to shortstop, and then the Red Sox can call up Roman Anthony, putting him in center field. Or, they can keep Rafaela in center and call up Marcelo Mayer, putting him at short. This would be a great opportunity, given how hot they’ve been since the Triple-A season started.
Move Trevor Story to 1B
Moving Story to first base would be a very smart move. Story has a great fielding range, but his throwing arm leaves much to be desired. He’s already played a game at DH since the Casas injury, and it feels like he and Devers should have alternated in this position regardless. The reason is that Story has been injured for most of his tenure with the team, all the while playing second base and shortstop. Moving him to first will be a more reliable feat for his strength, which is his bat. If he moves to first, then Cora can keep Devers at DH, and call up Marcelo Mayer or sub in David Hamilton. Regardless, Story as a first baseman seemingly makes sense.
As for the Red Sox as a whole, there are so many options they can choose from. They’ve built their depth well, and ideally, they should have no problem filling in holes. Whether or not the Red Sox call up one of the big three, sub in a bench bat for the interim, or just sign someone in free agency for first base, the possibilities are seemingly endless.
Photo Credit: © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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