Even on what should have been an off day for Triston Casas, the Red Sox first baseman made an immediate impact in his lone at-bat in Boston's series finale win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sunday.
Casas crushed a 95 mph fastball 419 feet to center for his third home run in as many games against the Cubs, giving the 23-year-old a boost of confidence after not being able to capitalize on pitchers' mistakes earlier in the season.
"(I'm) very confident," Casas said, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "That's part of being a good hitter, is hitting mistakes, especially at this level with how polished pitchers are.
"(Mistakes) come so seldomly that when you do get a mistake and you miss it, it's pretty demoralizing in the box. Just trying to move forward in that at-bat and knowing that you missed that pitch. It's tough, so not getting behind in the count and hitting the last couple of days has felt really good."
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Casas is slashing .233/.333/.434 on the season with 12 home runs, 14 doubles and one triple among his 59 hits in his first full season with the Red Sox.
Casas said teammate Masataka Yoshida is a role model at the plate despite the language barrier.
"I think we all learn from his approach," Casas said. "He's just spraying the ball over the field, having really quality at-bats every single time, not chasing the ball in play. I think he's all around one of the best players in the league, obviously, for average, he's starting to hit for power and he's got that clutch factor, too. So, I think we're all taking notes from him. We all wish that we could talk to pick his brain. Inside when he's talking he relays as much as he can to us."
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Featured image via David Banks/USA TODAY Sports Images
