How ready is Red Sox prospect Triston Casas?
It’s been a long time since the Red Sox have had a prospect like Tristan Casas. The Red Sox first-round pick out of high school in 2018, Casas entered the system as one of the hitters in the entire draft. MLB.com described his raw power as “up there with just anyone in the class” and that he had a “solid approach at the plate.” He also had a reputation as an above-average first baseman, reportedly hitting 92 off the mound in high school.
Casas has more than lived up to the hype in his three years in the Red Sox system. He kicked off his professional career with a solid season in Single-A Salem, smacking 46 extra-base hits and earning the 2019 Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year award in the process. After the canceled 2020 minor league season in which he impressed at the Red Sox alternate site, Casas excelled in 2021 at both Double-A Portland and the U.S Olympic team and earned and finished the season at Triple-A Worcester.
The question now with Casas is not if he will be a major-league contributor, but when. The one knock on the big lefty entering 2021 was his mediocre plate discipline, but he responded by significantly cutting his strikeout rate and substantially increasing his walk rate.
The Red Sox seem set with Bobby Dalbec as the starting first baseman entering this season, but Casas will have ample opportunity to take over the spot sometime this summer. A strong spring would go a long way to showing that he is ready for the bright lights of Boston.