Boston's rookie continues to crush pitching in July
The Boston Red Sox are among baseball’s hottest teams in July. Their rookie first baseman is a big reason why with a huge offensive month at the plate.
In July, Triston Casas is hitting .349 with seven home runs, 13 RBIs and a 1.224 OPS. The young corner infielder continues to improve by the month after early season struggles in 2023.
MLB Network analyst Mark DeRosa showed his belief in the Red Sox core throughout the month as the team got hot. On Monday, the former big leaguer shared his thoughts on how Triston Casas took over since the All-Star break.
“He’s putting his team on his back offensively,” DeRosa said on MLB Central. “There’s a lot to like, from controlling the zone to changing his swing a little bit.”
A change in approach by being more aggressive in counts made a big difference for the slugger after a quick introduction to Boston in 2022.
“He had too good of an idea of controlling the zone that he was a little bit passive,” DeRosa added. “He has started to attack some borderline pitches.”
Since the All-Star break, Casas is 18-for-43 (.419) as his bat and defense continue to make strides at the major league level.
As alluded to in the segment, only Shohei Ohtani (238) sits ahead of Casas (197) in WRC+ since June 13.
The power-walk abilities that drove Casas through the minor leagues are now on full display at the big league level.
The 23-year-old makes up a talented group of young players building a new core in Boston with Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers, Masataka Yoshida and Connor Wong among position players making an impact in 2023 and beyond.
Entering Boston’s series against the Seattle Mariners, Casas is slashing .253/.357/.483 for an .840 OPS with 16 home runs on the year in 2023.