The Red Sox are promoting top prospect Triston Casas from Double-A to Triple-A for the remainder of the minor league season
If you needed another reason to come to the brand-new Polar Park to see the Triple-A WooSox for their final homestand besides the great food and weekly fireworks, the Red Sox just gave you another:
Top infield prospect Triston Casas has been promoted from Double-A Portland for the remainder of the season.
Across 77 games with the SeaDogs this season, Casas slashed .284/.395/.484 with a .879 OPS, 12 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, 52 RBI, and six stolen bases.
At this year’s rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, Casas also helped Team USA Baseball advance to the gold medal round for the first time since 2000. They lost to Japan, but Casas led his team with three home runs and eight RBI throughout the global competitions. His teammate Jack Lopez made his long-awaited big-league debut earlier this month.
Triston Casas plays LONG BALL! 👀
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 2, 2021
It's a three-run shot and a Team USA lead. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/f1727Q3a5L
Casas is a former Red Sox first-round pick
Casas, who was drafted by the Sox in the first round of the 2018 June draft, is one of Boston’s most highly-anticipated prospects. MLB Pipeline currently ranks him as the number-two prospect among first basemen behind Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson, and he ranks 18th in the overall Top 100. In Boston’s top 30, he’s second only to this year’s first-round pick Marcelo Mayer.
The scouting report on Casas says that the 6″5 future star has “raw power” but is also “an advanced hitter for his age” who “uses the entire field rather than trying to yank everything out of the park.” He also has a cannon for an arm and pitched earlier in his career.
Defensively, Casas still has some fine-tuning to do. In 73 games at first base this season, he made eight errors.
Triston Casas could be the first Red Sox debut by a player born in 2000
Want to feel old? The 21-year-old Casas will eventually be one of the first MLB debuts by a player born in the year 2000. Only a few 2000 babies are already in MLB, including Luis Garcia and Elvis Luciano, and Wander Franco, who was born in March 2001.
Going forward, if JD Martinez opts out of the remainder of his contract, I could see Casas, Dalbec, and Devers platooning at first, third, and DH. Casas will likely start 2022 in Triple-A, but at this rate, will make his big-league debut sooner rather than later next season.