{"id":508645,"date":"2026-01-06T22:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/508645\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T22:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T22:33:12","slug":"will-red-soxs-triston-casas-back-up-willson-contreras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/508645\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Red Sox’s Triston Casas Back Up Willson Contreras?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who\u2019s on first for the Boston Red Sox? Obviously Willson Contreras<\/a> is the answer, following chief baseball officer Craig Breslow\u2019s<\/a> deal with the St. Louis Cardinals to acquire the three-time All-Star.<\/a><\/p>\n

Who\u2019s backing up at first base, however, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n

Logic dictates Triston Casas<\/a> will be No. 2 on the depth chart at first, provided he\u2019s fully recovered from the knee injury<\/a> which abruptly ended his 2025 season in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Casas backing up Contreras isn\u2019t that simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Casas is healthy \u2014 be it at the start of the season or shortly thereafter \u2014 sending him to Triple A Worcester is an option,\u201d the Boston Globe\u2019s Tim Healey reports<\/a>. \u201cThat will depend on how he looks, as well as the health of Contreras and those getting time at designated hitter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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MLB.com\u2019s Ian Browne<\/a> is thinking the same thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne overlooked thing about Casas is that he still has Minor League options, which makes it easier to keep him in the organization as he regains his timing and his health. How about a scenario in which Casas starts the season at Triple-A Worcester and gets an ample amount of at-bats to make up for the time missed last year?\u201d Browne writes.<\/p>\n

\u201c(W)ith Casas just a short drive away in Worcester, he serves as injury protection for the Red Sox at first base and DH,\u201d Browne notes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat about a rotation system in which Contreras gets the bulk of the at-bats at first base but occasionally slots in at DH, giving Casas a chance to play the field? In that scenario, Casas would be the club\u2019s primary DH,\u201d Browne reports.<\/p>\n

Should the Red Sox zig instead of zag, what other options do they have at first base?<\/p>\n

\u201cBehind Contreras and Casas, those on the depth chart include utility players Romy Gonzalez<\/a> (who is likely to see time at DH and perhaps second base), Triston Gray<\/a> (acquired via trade with the Rays in November), and Nick Sogard<\/a> (11 starts at first in 2025),\u201d Healey writes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cKristian Campbell\u2019s<\/a> defensive efforts are focused on the outfield, but it\u2019s hard to rule out the Sox giving him another go at first. Nate Eaton<\/a> has played a bunch of positions, but never first,\u201d Healey adds.<\/p>\n

Masslive.com\u2019s Chris Cotillo<\/a> believes Campbell isn\u2019t part of the solution at first base.<\/p>\n

\u201cCampbell\u2019s bizarre 2025 won\u2019t be repeated, but it\u2019s hard to envision a full year in the big leagues for him in 2026. The Sox clearly want him in the outfield on a full-time basis, which limits the path to major league at-bats,\u201d Cotillo reports. \u201cHis development will continue in a year split between Triple-A and the majors and there will be signs of improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n

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However Cotillo asserts Casas deserves to be on the big-league roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, if healthy, Casas is too talented to play at Triple-A or be in a bench role,\u201d Cotillo writes.<\/p>\n

That brings us back to Healey and his outlook at first base.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUnderscoring the importance of adding Contreras and getting Casas healthy: The farm system features little in the form of first-base prospects,\u201d Healey notes. <\/p>\n

\u201cNathan Hickey<\/a>, 26, had a .733 OPS and played mostly first for Worcester last season. Brooks Bannon<\/a>, a 21-year-old catcher who has started to dabble at first, has big raw power but didn\u2019t hit particularly well with Double-A Portland last season,\u201d Healey writes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But at the end of the day, how far the Red Sox go this season will depend on Contreras rather than who\u2019s backing him up at first base.<\/p>\n

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\u201cContreras has a real chance of leading Boston in homers, using his pull-side power to rack them up at home and surpass his career total of 24. He\u2019ll turn into a stabilizing force in the middle of the lineup,\u201d Cotillo concludes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s on first for the Boston Red Sox? Obviously Willson Contreras is the answer, following chief baseball officer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2290],"tags":[5,3411,1946,409],"class_list":{"0":"post-508645","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb-rumors","10":"tag-triston-casas","11":"tag-willson-contreras"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115850536783200620","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}