{"id":391241,"date":"2026-01-06T14:32:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T14:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/391241\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T14:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T14:32:08","slug":"will-red-soxs-triston-casas-back-up-willson-contreras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/391241\/","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

Story continues below advertisement<\/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

\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

Story continues below advertisement<\/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

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

Story continues below advertisement<\/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

\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

Story continues below advertisement<\/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

\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

Story continues below advertisement<\/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":391242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[363,37396,99,137997,7648],"class_list":{"0":"post-391241","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-mlb","9":"tag-mlb-rumors","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-triston-casas","12":"tag-willson-contreras"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}