Triston Casas (born January 15, 2000) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB). The Red Sox selected him in the first round of the

2018 MLB draft The 2018 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In a ...

and he made his MLB debut in 2022. Casas was a member of the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball t ...

at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, which won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

Amateur career

Casas played high school baseball at American Heritage School in

Plantation, Florida Plantation is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 91,750. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The city's name comes from the previous part-owner of the land, the ...

, where he played both corner infield positions. In two varsity seasons at American Heritage, Casas had a .414 batting average with 11

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 53

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the b ...

(RBIs) in 53 games played. He graduated high school a year early to be eligible for the

(MLB)

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

. He played in the

Under Armour All-America Baseball Game The Under Armour High School All-America Baseball Game is a high school baseball all-star game held annually to spotlight the United States' top high school players who are juniors or seniors. The game is played in late July or August, at Wrigley ...

in both 2016 and 2017.

Professional career

The

chose Casas in the first round, with the 26th overall selection, of the

. He signed with the Red Sox, receiving a $2,552,800

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

, the full slot value for the pick. He was assigned to Boston's Rookie League team, the

Gulf Coast League Red Sox The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...

. In a game on June 25, Casas was injured while playing third base; he subsequently underwent season-ending surgery on June 29, to repair a torn

ulnar collateral ligament Ulnar collateral ligament (or UCL), may refer to: * Ulnar carpal collateral ligament * Ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or internal lateral ligament is a thick triangular ligament at the medial aspec ...

in his right thumb. Casas began 2019 with the

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West E ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. In early June, he was named to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game. In mid-June, Casas was added to the top 100 prospects list of ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'', at number 98. In late August, he was named a South Atlantic League Postseason All-Star, and recognition from ''Baseball America'' as the Red Sox 2019 Minor League Player Of The Year. On September 1, Casas was promoted to the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Carolina League. Ho ...

. In mid-September, he was named the Red Sox' minor league offensive player of the year. Over 122 games between the two clubs, Casas

slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

ed .254/.349/.476 with 20 home runs and 81 RBIs. During 2020, with no minor league season due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, the Red Sox added Casas to their pool of reserve players on August 20, so he could participate in intra-squad workouts. He was subsequently invited to participate in the Red Sox' fall instructional league. Following the 2020 season, Casas was ranked by ''Baseball America'' as the Red Sox' number one prospect. Casas began the 2021 season in Double-A with the

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. The Sea Dogs became part of the Red Sox sys ...

. In addition to playing 77 games for Portland, Casas also appeared in nine games for the Triple-A

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawtucket Red Sox. The ...

, batting a combined .279 with 14 home runs and 59 RBIs. After the regular season, Casas was selected to play in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

, and was named the starting first baseman for the East team in the league's annual Fall Stars Game. The Red Sox invited Casas to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives estab ...

as a non-roster player in 2022. He returned to Worcester to start the season. In May 2022, he was ranked 18th in the list of baseball's top 100 prospects by ''Baseball America''. Casas sustained a

high ankle sprain A high ankle sprain, also known as a syndesmotic ankle sprain (SAS), is a sprain of the syndesmotic ligaments that connect the tibia and fibula in the lower leg, thereby creating a mortise and tenon joint for the ankle. High ankle sprains are desc ...

in mid-May, causing him to miss over a month of playing time. The Red Sox promoted Casas to the major leagues on September 4, and he made his MLB debut that day. In 27 games with Boston, he batted .197 with five home runs and 12 RBIs. In 72 games with Triple-A Worcester, he batted .273 with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs. After the season, he played for

Tigres del Licey Tigres del Licey (English: Licey Tigers) is a professional baseball team in the Dominican Professional Baseball League (LIDOM). The team was founded in 1907 and based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It is one of two LIDOM franchises based in ...

in the

Dominican Winter League Dominican may refer to: * Someone or something from or related to the Dominican Republic ( , stress on the "mi"), on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles, in the Caribbean ** People of the Dominican Republic ** Demographics of the Domi ...

International career

Casas played on the 18-under

, and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2017 U-18 Baseball World Cup. In May 2021, Casas was named to the roster of the

for qualifying for

baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republ ...

, contested in 2021 in Tokyo. After the team qualified, he was named to the Olympics roster on July 2. During the tournament, Casas hit home runs against South Korea, Japan, and the Dominican Republic. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

References

External links

, o
SoxProspects.com
*
Casas (#44) batting in his first GCL Red Sox game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casas, Triston 2000 births Living people Sportspeople from Pembroke Pines, Florida Baseball players from Florida Major League Baseball first basemen Boston Red Sox players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Greenville Drive players Salem Red Sox players Portland Sea Dogs players Worcester Red Sox players Scottsdale Scorpions players Florida Complex League Red Sox players Tigres del Licey players United States national baseball team players Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic baseball players of the United States Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in baseball American Heritage School (Florida) alumni American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic

Amateur career

Professional career

International career

References

Further reading

External links