What Ex-Red Sox Dustin Pedroia Sees In Watching Triston Casas

The first-year breakout of Red Sox rookie Triston Casas has even caught the eye of Boston legend Dustin Pedroia, who can relate to the 23-year-old.

Casas, like Pedroia, didn't find instant success at the plate in his first full season at the big league level. In 25 games between March and April, Casas only hit .133, similar to Pedroia's ice-cold start back in 2007 when he batted just .182 heading into May and garnered criticism from all corners regarding his size and hitting mechanics.

But like the three-time World Series champ was able to do 16 years ago, Casas has since climbed out of the slump, skyrocketing his way to legitimate Rookie of the Year contention.

"He's playing great, man," Pedroia told WEEI's Rob Bradford on Audacy's "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast. "... You get thrown into an environment as a young player and there's a lot of expectations. In the big league level, it's hard, man. There's not a level higher so to have patience with a young player, obviously, you take a hit in the short-term, but in the long-term you get so many games as an organization."

That same patience that former Red Sox skipper Terry Francona exhibited during Pedroia's struggles back in '07, has come into play yet again. Only this time, manager Alex Cora and the Red Sox are getting a much more settled and dangerous version of Casas at the plate, clearing the air on questions regarding first base for years to come.

"To see what he's doing is outstanding," Pedroia said, per Bradford. "It's great. ... It's not about the -- you gotta do certain things before the game, you gotta do this, you gotta do that. The game is about adjustments and being able to adjust to the other team making adjustments to you. And the faster that you make adjustments, the better player you're gonna be.

"And now I see him, just from watching the games, making adjustments, not only game to game, but pitch to pitch. And that's what makes a good hitter. If you can make adjustments pitch to pitch, you're an elite baseball player in the major league level. If you can make adjustments at-bat to at-bat, you're a good major league player. ... That's the difference."

With 22 games remaining, including Friday night's contest with the Orioles, Casas still has time to amplify his ongoing American League Rookie of the Year case. The left-handed hitting slugger is batting .268 with 23 home runs (tied for the most among rookies), 20 doubles and 60 RBIs.