Red Sox promote Connor Wong, Eduard Bazardo as September call-ups

BOSTON — The Red Sox promoted two players as September call-ups on Thursday. One of those players was not first baseman Triston Casas.

Casas has been swinging a hot bat in Triple-A Worcester since returning from an ankle injury on July 22, batting .299 and slugging .496 with 11 doubles and four homers. The 22-year-old is slashing .333/.460/.533 since the start of August.

But he was not the position player to get called up to the Majors on Thursday. That honor went to catcher Connor Wong, with righty reliver Eduard Bazardo also getting a call to the big leagues on the day active rosters expand to 28 players.

While fans may be clamoring for Casas and his bat, bringing up Wong does make some sense. There’s a chance that he could be Boston’s starting backstop in 2023, so he could use as much Major League experience as possible. Wong, who was acquired from the Dodgers in the Mookie Betts trade, has hit .288 with 15 homers, 20 doubles, and 44 RBIs over 81 games for Worcester this season. He has appeared in five games for Boston this season, going 2-for-8 at the plate with an RBI. 

Defensively, Wong has thrown out 24 percent of base-stealers at Worcester this season and 30 percent (90 or 302) for his career at the Triple-A level. He has also played a little second base this season.

And, like Casas, Wong has also been hot at the plate as of late. The 26-year-old is hitting .368 with nine homers and 22 RBIs over his last 16 games for Worcester.

Bazardo, 27, had a 3.45 ERA over 37 appearances for Worcester this season. He made his Major League debut with the Red Sox last season, and allowed one hit over three scoreless innings across two relief appearances.

Casas will make his way to the Majors at some point. Red Sox fans just have to wait a little longer to get their first glimpse of the hard-hitting prospect in the big leagues.