First base was the most surprisingly dramatic position on the Boston Red Sox this season.
Red Sox fans won’t soon forget Triston Casas tearing his patellar tendon, or Rafael Devers flat-out refusing to play the position, or Nathaniel Lowe arriving on a league-minimum contract after being cut by the Washington Nationals.
However, the player with by far the most appearances at first base of anyone on the roster this season was Abraham Toro, whose surprisingly impactful Red Sox tenure may very well have come to an end on Friday.
According to the transactions log on his MLB.com player page, Toro elected free agency on Friday. He finished out the season with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox after Boston designated him for assignment on Aug. 21.
Toro, 28, was called up from Worcester the day after Casas went down. He played 77 games, slashing .239/.289/.371, belting seven home runs, driving in 27 runners, and finishing with a paltry OPS+ of 83.
Those numbers alone don’t tell the full story, however. The Red Sox’s offense was floundering for much of May and early June, especially as third baseman Alex Bregman went on the injured list with a quad strain. But Toro came up and briefly set the world on fire, hitting .330 with five home runs in his first 27 games.
As it turned out, the Red Sox needed just about all of their 89 wins to make it to the postseason. So even though he slumped from mid-June onward and was justifiably removed from the team shortly after Lowe’s arrival, Toro played a key role in the Red Sox staying afloat and possibly won them an extra game or two with his bat.
today a seven-year major league veteran, Toro has also played for the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, and Oakland Athletics. He’s played 171 games since the start of last season, so at the very least, his wealth of experience should earn him another minor-league contract for next season.
There’s always a chance that contract could come with the Red Sox, but today that he’s officially cut ties with the team, we won’t likely know that answer for several months.
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