Triston Casas’ Major League Baseball debut probably won’t happen until at least 2021, and even that might be generous.
However, age (just 19 years old) and experience (51 games in the minors) haven’t prevented Casas from surging to the top of the Boston Red Sox prospect rankings.
Taken with the 26th overall pick in the 2018 MLB Amateur Draft, Casas is a hard-hitting Floridian who has all the makings of a franchise corner infielder. He also has the kind of size (6-foot-4, 238 pounds) that scouts drool over.
But a torn thumb ligament two games into his professional career, coupled with a slow start to the 2019 season, had some wondering whether Casas was ready for pro ball, despite his strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. Then May came around, and the left-handed slugger took off.
Casas hit .326 with eight homers last month for the Single-A Greenville Drive, raising his average to .266 to go along with 10 homers and 42 RBIs. The torrid stretch helped the third baseman rise to the top of SoxProspects.com’s latest rankings.
(Note: Michael Chavis no longer is featured in the rankings, due to his extended stay in the big leagues.)
That’s an impressive turnaround for any player, let alone a teenager making his effective debut with the added pressure of being a first-round pick.
Casas isn’t the only prospect generating buzz in Boston’s farm system, which admittedly remains among the worst in baseball but is experiencing an undeniable resurgence. Fellow top prospects Bobby Dalbec and Tanner Houck played significant roles in the Portland Sea Dogs’ record-breaking game Friday night, and top pitching prospect Darwinzon Hernandez already has gotten his cup of coffee in the majors.
There’s also the looming return (to the mound, not to actual games) of 2016 first-round pick Jay Groome, who underwent Tommy John surgery last summer. The 20-year-old, left-handed New Jersey native hasn’t been able to establish any sort of foundation to build upon, but nevertheless is viewed as the most talented pitcher in the Red Sox pipeline.
All that being said, there’s no player — not even Casas — in Boston’s system raising more eyebrows than Jarren Duran, who might be the best hitter in the minors.
