Triston Casas is a creature of habit. He does yoga and sunbathes before games, and always has his nails painted. He may also be showing, for the second consecutive season, that he's a slow starter.
After Casas' 2024 campaign, fans expected him to be hot out of the gate. But the young slugger struggled at the plate early on.
Casas was held to just one hit in Boston's season-opening series with the Mariners. The lefty can usually get on base through some free passes as well, but he only collected two.
Then, Casas' bat started to wake up against the A's. He recorded at least one hit in each of the Sox's three games in Oakland, but he still struggled to put the ball in play at the same frequency he did during the second half of last season.
Red Sox getting early boost from Triston Casas in 2024
Casas ➡️ Monster. pic.twitter.com/HiQBPYItSp
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 11, 2024
More recently, Casas has been even hotter. He has three multi-hit performances in Boston's last five games and he mashed his first two homers of the season. He and Tyler O'Neill homered back-to-back against the Angels, and if Casas can continue to trend up at the plate, they could be a deadly combination for the Sox's opponents.
However, Casas has racked up quite a few strikeouts this season, but through no fault of his own. Casas' eye has been spot-on this year and he's gotten the short end of the stick from umpires across multiple games. Red Sox fans have taken to social media to share their displeasure with the umpiring Boston has seen so far and to offer Casas some praise for his discipline.
The first baseman's start has felt slower than it's really been for multiple reasons — Sox fans got used to seeing Casas get on base almost every game late last season. He's also racked up more strikeouts than he should've due to questionable umpiring as well as the Mariners' pitching, one of the best staffs in the American League, who stymied him early with the breaking stuff he struggled against last year.
Regardless of how the first series went, Casas' confidence is picking back up. Now that the Sox are back at Fenway for a lengthy homestand, there's no better time than the present for the slugger to find the Green Monster.