Triston Casas ‘living (his) worst nightmare' as he sets goal for return to Red Sox after knee injury
BOSTON — A month and a day after suffering a gruesome knee injury that ended his season after just 29 games, Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas didn't sugarcoat the impact of having a second consecutive year cut short by a significant injury.
'I'm living my worst nightmare right now,' said Casas, on crutches in Boston's clubhouse Tuesday. 'This is the worst-case scenario for any type of player, to go through a recovery that's double digit-months long. But going through it now, I feel like I'm gonna be better as a consequence of it.'
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On May 2, Casas was trying to beat out a dribbler down the first base line when his left foot planted awkwardly on the base line and he immediately crumpled to the ground in pain. Unable to get up, Casas called for a cart and was immediately taken to an area hospital. The diagnosis was a significant one: a full rupture of the patellar tendon in his left knee.
Within 48 hours, Casas had surgery and began a rehab process that'll take multiple months. He hopes to ditch his crutches in a couple weeks before starting to do mobility training, likely at the Sox' complex in Fort Myers. He has one goal in mind when it comes to a return date.
'I've heard different amount of months,' Casas said. 'I haven't heard anything over a year though. As of right now, our goal is Opening Day next year. Just gonna take it slow.
'I'm gonna spend the winter in Fort Myers, rehabbing, and until then, just try to stay in a positive mindset. I know there's a lot of healing that's done that's outside of the training table. Just trying to take it one day at a time, be positive and maintaining a good head space is gonna be important as well.'
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Patellar tears are unusual for baseball players and are seen more often in offensive linemen in football. Casas noted that former Red Sox pitcher Garrett Richards, who suffered a similar injury on the Fenway Park field as a member of the Angels in 2014, has provided support from afar. Casas is confident he will be able to make a full recovery in time.
'They're very confident,' Casas said, referencing his medical team. 'I talked to my surgeon and he said it was almost the best-case scenario, just with how everything almost completely detached. Once you're dealing with having to mend back tendons together, you're dealing with microfibers. To have a complete rupture is almost the best-case scenario. They said that I'm gonna make a full recovery."
Casas has watched the video of the fateful play and has no regrets.
'I looked at the video and, obviously I didn't mean to kick Ty France,' he said, referencing Minnesota's first baseman. 'That's something playing first base I'd never do. So my foot slipped on that step before. I think I went to a range of motion I wasn't comfortable with and I never came down. Tried to catch myself with that foot after the step after the bag and just didn't.
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'It's just part of the game. It's part of running hard down the line. It's part of just playing the game how you feel like it should be. I wouldn't have changed anything about it. That was just a move that I've done thousands of times. I can't say I would've done anything differently or I have any regrets about it. It's just onward from here.'
On impact, Casas feared his season was over.
'I (knew) pretty much immediately,' he said. 'It felt somebody hit me with a sledgehammer as I was running by ... I knew something happened. I didn't even really wanna move from that laying down position. I just asked our trainer to get me a cart. I knew something wasn't normal. I tried to stay calm, but I knew it was pretty severe.'
For now, Casas — on pace with his recovery — is taking his work one day at a time, doing range-of-motion exercises with his hips and quads and getting treatment from the medical staff at Fenway Park. With nearly 10 months to go before Opening Day, he knows there are obstacles ahead of him. Making things more difficult is that the Red Sox have struggled in his absence and enter Tuesday four games under .500 at 29-33.
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'Physically, it's gonna be the toughest thing that I've gone through so far in my career,' Casas said. 'A lot of anger, a lot of frustration. I had a lot of goals for myself this year that I'm not gonna be able to accomplish. So back to the drawing board. I'll have a full offseason to recover and get back to the caliber of player I hope on being and let's try to attack it next year.'
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