Red Sox Rumors: Optioning Triston Casas, shorstop help delayed, Royals trade target
Red Sox Rumors: Would optioning Triston Casas, calling up Bobby Dalbec be the best option right now?
There have been high hopes for Triston Casas within the Red Sox organization for a long time. He was the top prospect in the system in 2021 and was only considered the No. 2 prospect in 2022 because of the hype around Marcelo Mayer in the minor leagues after he was drafted in the first round.
But the fact of the matter is that it just hasn’t come together for the left-handed hitting first baseman at the major league level to this point. Yes, he has six home runs on the year, showing the tremendous power that he boasts, but he’s slashing just .193/.308/.359 on the season, which is eerily similar to the numbers he posted after being called up at the end of last year.
Now an unlikely player is making a case with his performance that he should be called up with Casas being optioned: Bobby Dalbec.
Dalbec was another corner infielder — and one-time shortstop in a wildly dumb experiment — who boasted elite power and had Red Sox fans dreaming about his potential. That too never came to fruition fully, though, as he posted just a .652 OPS last season and seemingly paved the way for Casas.
Now in Triple-A Worscester, though, Dalbec looks like a superstar again. Per Jared Carrabis, Dalbec has a 1.279 OPS with seven home runs and 16 RBI in 14 games with the WooSox.
Since getting sent down on May 16, Bobby Dalbec is hitting .377 with a 1.279 OPS. That’s a .468 OBP and an .811 SLG. He’s got 7 homers, 2 doubles and 16 RBI in 14 games, while swiping three bags.
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) June 1, 2023
When you compare the struggles of Casas right now to what Dalbec is doing in the minors combined with the fact that, prior to the 2022 season, the latter was putting up substantially better numbers than what Casas is currently showing, it should at least be under consideration to let the 23-year-old Casas go back to Triple-A to get more work on his game while Dalbec gets another opportunity to prove he can make it in the majors.
The worst-case scenario is Casas gets to develop further with less pressure while Dalbec fails in the majors. The best-case scenario is that Dalbec stays hot and either becomes the most viable option this season at first base or becomes a trade asset that Boston could deal.