Star Boston Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell has started working out at first base in the wake of Triston Casas‘ season-ending knee injury.

Campbell worked out at first before Friday night’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora addressed the situation when he spoke to reporters before the game.

“Looking for options,” Cora told reporters. “Obviously, we’re getting Romy [Gonzalez] probably at the end of the week, early next week, but just introduce him to first base and see how he looks. That’s where we’re at.”

Casas ruptured the tendon in his left knee while running to first base during a game against the Minnesota Twins earlier this month. His replacement at first, Gonzalez, was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a left quad contusion last week.

One potential replacement, star slugger Rafael Devers, said after Casas went down that he would not be open to moving to first after he went from third base to designated hitter during spring training to make room for Alex Bregman.

Campbell, one of baseball’s top prospects, broke camp with the big league team and has been its primary second baseman through the start of the season. He has also played in the outfield and at shortstop and third base in his career, but never first.

Asked what he would need to see for Campbell to be a realistic option at first for his team, Cora added: “The process started, right? It can take 10 days, 15 days, a month, two months. But we started the process and introduced him to first.”

ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. gave up two unearned runs over four innings against the Texas Rangers on Friday, six nights after the right-hander failed to get out of the first inning in a game that he said was followed by online threats.

McCullers, who is making a comeback after sitting out two full seasons because of injuries, gave up seven runs while getting only one out in Houston’s 13-9 loss last Saturday, then said afterward that he had received online death threats directed at his children. The Astros said Houston police and Major League Baseball security were alerted to the threats.

The 31-year-old right-hander on Friday made only his third start for the Astros since the 2022 World Series. He earned a no-decision.

McCullers needed 83 pitches to get through his four innings and he threw 53 strikes. He struck out two, walked one and gave up four singles.

The only runs against McCullers came when Jonah Heim had a two-run single with two outs in the second inning. That was three batters after shortstop Jeremy Peña was charged with an error when he failed to catch a throw from McCullers, who was trying to get the lead runner at second base after fielding a comebacker.

Jake Burger, whose homer was the only run in the Rangers’ 1-0 win in the series opener Thursday night, then had an infield popout before Heim’s hit into the right-field corner.

Astros manager Joe Espada said before Friday’s game that McCullers mentally was “in a good spot. Physically, he’s fine. He just needs to go out there and just have some confidence and pitch, be aggressive in the zone and we have his back.”

McCullers had surgery in June 2023 to repair his right flexor tendon and remove a bone spur, and was rehabbing last June when he had a setback during a bullpen session that shut him down for the rest of the season. He made four starts in the minor leagues this year before rejoining the Astros rotation on May 4.

“We all have confidence he can do it. He just needs to go out there and do his thing,” Espada said. “It’s going to happen.”

McCullers is 49-33 and 3.53 ERA in 133 games (130 starts) for the Astros since his big league debut with them in 2015.

An All-Star in 2017, McCullers went 10-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 25 games in 2018 before Tommy John surgery. He was 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 28 starts in 2021, then signed an $85 million, five-year contract that goes through 2026.

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday with a sprained right ankle.

The 31-year-old veteran has struggled this season and is coming off an outing against St. Louis on Wednesday in which he allowed 12 hits, nine runs and three homers — all career highs — in a 14-7 loss.

Nola originally injured the ankle while doing agility work in the outfield in Tampa, Florida, last Thursday. He made two starts since, and said the ankle bothered him to the point he was overcompensating elsewhere in his body.

“I did feel like I had to overcompensate a bit,” Nola said. “It did get a little bit better last game, but it was putting a little more stress on my back just because I wasn’t able to rotate my foot like I usually do.”

The Phillies chose to put Nola on the injured list to avoid another injury cropping up while he was favoring the ankle.

Manager Rob Thomson said he doesn’t expect this to be a long stint for Nola, who aside from a 10-day stint on the COVID injury list in 2021, hasn’t missed a start since 2017.

“Obviously, I never want to go on the IL,” Nola said. “As a competitor, I’m here to pitch. I’ve pitched through stuff before and little things haven’t affected me. I thought this was going to subside by now, but it hasn’t really. It’s frustrating.”

For the season, Nola is 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA in nine starts. In 11 seasons with Philadelphia, Nola is 105-86 with a 3.78 ERA.

The Phillies recalled right-hander Daniel Robert from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Nola’s roster spot. Robert was acquired from Texas in a trade on April 30. Pitching prospect Mick Abel will be recalled to make a spot start on Sunday and the Phillies will make a corresponding move at that time.

Taijuan Walker, who pitched three innings in relief of Nola on Wednesday, will take Nola’s actual turn in the rotation next Wednesday in Colorado.