Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas built his career on the offensive side of the ball. However, even one of the best hitters on the team outside of Rafael Devers isn’t excused for lackluster defense for Boston. After a poor showing against the Chicago White Sox, Alex Cora had one word to describe his player’s performance so far this year, according to Christopher Smith of Mass Live.
“Inconsistent,“ Cora said about Casas’ defense against Chicago. ”Yeah, inconsistent. There’s a few things that we’re working on with him and we believe he can be much better.
Casas’ poor start to the year hasn’t just been on defense, either. The 25-year-old has a batting average of just .158, easily a career-worst. He is also second on the team in errors with four, behind only new Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman. After so much conflict about who Boston would put in the hot corner, Casas might be on the hot seat at first. Devers is the first candidate to replace him, but Cora seems to want him as the everyday designated hitter.
Casas’ most recent error on Sunday wasn’t monumental enough to cost his team the game. However, it is concerning. What players can get away with in April and their margin of error in the postseason are wildly different. Casas has enough time to turn things around, and Cora believes he can do just that.
According to the Red Sox manager, Casas can put his errors behind him by focusing on one simple thing he’s been working on since spring.
“The first step,” Cora said about what could fix Casas’ play in the field. “We were trying to work on his pre-pitch in spring training. He’s fallen into some bad habits lately. But if we can get that one down, he’ll be better. He’s making throws. He makes every throw at first base. That’s really good. But yeah, we gotta get him moving at first.”
Triston Casas is a key member of Boston’s team this season, and they will go, in some part, as far as he is able to take them.
