No. 1: Red Sox first base prospect Triston Casas
Marcelo Mayer has come along and everyone considers him the top prospect in the Red Sox organization now. That’s fair for a lot of reasons, but I can’t look past what Triston Casas has done.
Since being drafted by the Red Sox back in 2018, he has done nothing but impress. That includes a few accolades outside of the Red Sox organization. You know, like being one of the best players on a Silver Medal winning Team USA in the Olympics this year.
Casas had a great year between Double-A and Triple-A too. The left-handed hitter slashed .279/.394/.484 in 86 games (308 at-bats). What makes that even more impressive is the fact that he was out for so long due to the Olympics. What could he have done if his season wasn’t broken up?
Casas also roped 15 doubles, three triples, and 14 home runs. He drove in 59 runs and scored 63 more, even scoring seven bases. The discipline is phenomenal too. Despite being seen as a “power” hitter, he struck out 71 times (which isn’t bad) and managed 57 walks. Something that helps here is that Casas doesn’t seem too concerned with going for home runs. He’ll gladly choke up high on the bat (and somehow still hit home runs pretty regularly).
The Red Sox drafted Casas as a third baseman. He’s been playing first base though, and could be the Red Sox long-term answer there pretty quickly. The 21-year-old had decent range for third base but it’s really solid for first. He also has good footwork and is naturally good at picking balls in the dirt. Great glove and elite arm – especially for first base.
This isn’t going to be the part of the game people focus on when it comes to Casas, but he could be a Gold Glove type defender, he’s seriously that good.
Speed wise, there isn’t much going on here. Casas isn’t painfully slow, but he’s certainly not fast. He’s really good on the bases though and could steal a few bases if teams fall asleep on him and overestimate his slowness.
Overall, Casas is a superstar in the making. Middle-of-the-order bat for the Red Sox for a long time. Will be very good defensively. Meanwhile, he could hit around .300 with 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBI pretty regularly. The fact that he’ll gladly go oppo tells me that he’s going to fall in love with the Green Monster too, and pepper in a lot of doubles off the wall. He’s got such a complete game, it will be fun to watch.
It feels bold to predict a 21-year-old’s career. Especially when he’s never even played in the Majors. But he could go down as one of the best players in the history of the Red Sox if he spends his entire career in Boston.
Hit: 70
Power: 70
Run: 40
Arm: 65
Field: 65
Overall: 65