Triston Casas has hilarious response to question about recovery, return to Red Sox

Despite being docked on the 60-day IL due to a rib injury suffered in April, Triston Casas has done everything he can to stay as close to the game as possible. He's been spotted in a hitting stance in the Red Sox dugout, taking swings with his hands in sync with the in-game pitcher. In May, he was seen standing in the Fenway Park batter's box for 10 minutes, staring off into the distance reminiscent of the game he loves.

It's what makes Casas who he is: the unique, determined first baseman who simply loves baseball. So when he went down with a serious cartilage tear in his ribcage early in the season, it was a heartbreaking blow for the 24-year-old. Not only has he been sidelined for a significant amount of time, but his day-to-day recovery has been somewhat limited. It wasn't until Wednesday that Casas was given the green light to begin taking dry swings following a positive MRI.

But in an exchange with reporters on Wednesday, the jokester had the entirety of the media scrum dazed. When asked if he'd been taking swings before the encouraging imaging, Casas said he had, but with "no bat." He claimed he'd been taking swings for 10 weeks. Confused, he was hit with a follow-up rebuttal.

"Oh no, just in my mind," Casas said of if he was swinging with just his hands. "Without a bat, just in my head. I've taken thousands of at-bats in this time, so I feel great, I feel ready."

Casas went on to say he performed this mental exercise both sitting and laying, and that it wasn't done with any twisting.

But in all seriousness, Casas is beginning to uncover a potential timeline for a return, taking 20 swings at 75% effort in what is the first step in a hitting plan that will eventually have him taking batting practice and returning to live pitching. The All-Star break wouldn't be an unrealistic return date for a much-needed boost to Boston's lineup.

Before hitting the shelf this spring, Casas got off to a .244/.344/.857 start in 78 at-bats, belting six home runs and notching 10 RBI. With Boston currently positioned 1.5 games out of a Wild Card bid and 9.5 games back in the AL East, Casas' services could be extremely useful to a Red Sox squad yearning for a ticket to the postseason.