Speculation About Red Sox Replacing Triston Casas At 1B Has Gotten Out Of Hand

Apr 29, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas (36) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the eighth inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

There's no doubt that the 2025 season has been a disappointment for Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas so far. But based on some of the things written about him these days, you'd think he's been going up to the plate without a bat.

Casas has been bad, no way around it. He owns a .598 OPS (68 OPS+) through 26 games. He's been dropped from the cleanup spot to the seven-hole on most nights. And he's not starting against left-handed pitchers, even though manager Alex Cora said he had earned that chance before the season.

However, speculation about Casas losing his starting job has been rampant, and it's starting to become embarrassing. Even as he's begun to heat up, there have been writers coming out of the woodwork saying it's time, or at least nearing the time, to make a drastic move.

On Wednesday, Bleacher Report ran an article suggesting the Red Sox could move Alex Bregman or Rafael Devers to first base. The same day, FanSided said it was time for the Red Sox to send Casas to the minors and recall Vaughn Grissom to play first base.

What are we doing here? Casas has hits in four of his last five games. He's raised his season OPS by 128 points in that time frame. Every year, it's like the baseball community completely forgets that a season is long, and one month, good or bad, doesn't define a player's career.

We've been down this exact road with Casas once before. At the end of April in 2023, his OPS sat at .576. He went on to post a .916 mark with 21 home runs in 107 games the rest of the way, taking home third place in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

Of course, Casas elicits stronger reactions than most young players. He paints his nails, rambles on a bit in interviews, and often does shirtless yoga in the outfield grass. When he's struggling, people are quick to pounce on him, either consciously or not, because he's quirky despite not being a fully-established star.

But let's slow our roll with all the drama. It's ridiculous that Craig Breslow and Triple-A manager Chad Tracy had to answer questions about replacing Casas with Roman Anthony. This is a 25-year-old with elite bat speed and a 119 career OPS+, and people are acting like he should be fired into the sun.

Casas will probably keep heating up. If he's still got season stats like this by mid-June, we can unearth the salacious conversations. But they've become a silly distraction from a team and a starting lineup that are starting to gel.