Boston Red Sox Star Has Fractured Rib, No Timetable For Return

The Boston Red Sox have been dealt another devastating injury blow in a month full of them.

First baseman Triston Casas was diagnosed with a fractured rib and will miss significant time, manager Alex Cora told reporters Tuesday in Cleveland, where the Red Sox are playing the Guardians.

“He has a fracture so he’ll be out for a while,” Cora said. “Obviously, we had a pretty good idea a few days ago. After all the tests in Boston, that’s what came out. We just have to be patient now. Timetable, there’s none. This has to heal on its own. We’ve just got to be patient.”

Casas, 24, was hitting .244 with six home runs and 10 RBIs through his first 22 games of the season. Last year as a rookie, Casas belted 24 homers and drove in 65 runs while hitting .267. He finished third in American League Rookie of the Year voting.

The apparent culprit for Casas’ injury: swinging a bat.

Cora told reporters Casas began feeling discomfort in his ribs during a three-game home series against the Guardians last week. The discomfort boiled over into pain against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. Casas was removed from that game after his first-inning at-bat against Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller and underwent testing that ultimately revealed the extent of his injury.

Bobby Dalbec, who’s been filling in for Rafael Devers at third base, will move across the diamond and start in Casas’ place Tuesday. Dalbec has one hit and 18 strikeouts in his first 30 at-bats of the season, a .033 batting average.

The Red Sox were already reeling from injuries before Casas received his diagnosis, particularly on the infield.

On April 5 in Anaheim, shortstop Trevor Story suffered a season-ending shoulder injury diving to make a play in the field. Devers has a bone bruise in his knee. Pablo Reyes is playing third base in place of Devers on Tuesday.

Although Devers has been able to avoid the injured list so far, he’s been limited to 13 games this season (and batted .188 when healthy). Cora told reporters in Cleveland that Devers will be in the lineup as Boston’s designated hitter Wednesday.

Garrett Whitlock, Nick Pivetta and Lucas Giolito – three-fifths of Boston’s projected starting rotation – are also on the injured list.

Despite the injuries and relatively meek preseason projections, the Red Sox enter Tuesday’s game with a 13-10 record, 2.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees for first place in the American League East.