BOSTON — In the aftermath of an otherwise encouraging 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins, the Red Sox lamented the loss of first baseman Triston Casas, who was carted off the field in the bottom of the second inning following what appeared to be a serious injury to his left knee.
“It’s a significant knee injury,” confirmed Alex Cora. “He’s at the hospital right now, getting more tests and all that stuff. We’ll have more information (Saturday).”
Cora and a member of the team’s training staff rushed out to attend to Casas, who stumbled over the first base bag while attempting to beat out a soft roller to the right of the mound, only to fall to the ground after the knee appeared to buckle.
“It seemed like he was in shock, to be honest with you,” said Cora. “He said it right away, that he didn’t feel it. It’s tough. He worked so hard. We want him on the field. It was a hustle play, too and that happened.”
Cora said the scene on the infield dirt, with Casas on his back in obvious distress, was an emotional one for all involved.
“You put so much effort into (preparing) in the offseason,” said Cora. “I know how it works and everything that he went through in the offseason, getting ready for this. He was looking forward to having a big season for us. It didn’t start the way he wanted, but he kept grinding, kept working and now this happens.
“We love (the game), we love the whole thing. But in the end, we’re human beings and you suffer with them. It was tough to see it…It sucks, to be honest with you. That’s the part you don’t like about the job — when people get hurt and when you have to send people down. It’s pretty tough.
“Like I said before, they put so much effort and work into the offseason to try to play 162-plus and then something like that happens. That’s the reason we don’t take it for granted — showing up to work every day and being a big leaguer. And he loves being a big-leaguer. He likes to come to the ballpark at 10 in the morning and leave at midnight and do his thing. For now, it’s going to be taken away, but like I said before, I told him he’s going to be back at some point.”
Cora said the atmosphere in the home dugout was “very quiet.”
“Horrible,” concluded teammate Alex Bregman. “Obviously, we’re all thinking about him and hoping for the best. Great teammate and you hate to see that happen. We’re all thinking about him right now.”
Bregman said it was difficult to focus on the game after the injury cast a pall on the team.
“For sure, it’s tough,” he said. “We’re a big family in here that comes to the ballpark every single day together and to see one of your guys go down like that, it’s really tough.”
Trevor Story, who suffered a serious shoulder injury a week into last season which caused him to miss almost five months, came out to comfort Casas as he waited for the cart to take him off the field.
“(We were all) just in shock,” said Cora. “You don’t expect that. And when you see the card, that’s when you (realize), ‘Oh…this is more than a twisted ankle’ or something like that.”
Asked what the team’s plans are for first base, Cora offered little in the way of details.
“We’re going to meet after the game, and we’ll talk,” Cora said.
