Triston Casas is continuing to progress in his recovery from a torn cartilage in his ribcage, and Monday the Red Sox first baseman underwent an MRI to see how the injury is healing.
“He had an MRI today just to see where we’re at,” manager Alex Cora said. “We don’t have the results yet but he says he’s feeling better.”
Casas said they ordered the MRI specifically because he’s feeling so much better, and the goal is to confirm that his injury has healed rather than assume anything and risk a setback.
“I’m feeling good, that’s why we got the MRI, because I was feeling good, so we want to make sure everything’s perfect before I start letting it rip,” Casas said. “Feelings can be deceiving sometimes, you might feel good but you might still be recovering, so that was the need for the MRI.”
Casas will see his doctor Tuesday at 5 p.m., and if the results come back clean the hope is he’ll be able to start ramping up quickly.
“Hopefully a pretty quick progression, I don’t anticipate I’ll need much time,” Casas said. “I’ve been keeping up with everything else, my baseball activities, working out, running, ground balls and stuff, so I feel like it’s going to be a quick transition back to game-time.”
Casas, who last played April 20 against Pittsburgh, previously said he’s targeting next week’s series in Miami for a return. Casas is from South Florida and attended high school about a half hour’s drive from the Marlins’ loanDepot Park, though he said Monday the MRI’s results will dictate the timetable.
Prior to his injury Casas was enjoying a strong start to his second full season in the big leagues. The 24-year-old was batting .244 with six home runs, 10 RBI and an .857 OPS in 22 games.
Casas’ return would provide a significant boost to the Red Sox lineup, which has already enjoyed significant reinforcements as Masataka Yoshida, Wilyer Abreu and Romy Gonzalez have each returned from the injured list over the past two weeks.
The last remaining injured position player of note who is expected back this season, infielder Vaughn Grissom (right hamstring strain), is also trending towards a return. Cora said Monday that the second baseman is running and feeling better, though he’s still not ready to begin a rehab assignment.
