Triston Casas made a lasting impression with Team USA at this summer's Tokyo Olympics.
The Boston Red Sox' top prospect led his squad with three home runs and eight RBI in the tournament. His performance helped USA Baseball come away with a silver medal.
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Team USA manager Mike Scioscia, who spent 19 years as an MLB skipper, was thoroughly impressed with what Casas showed during the Olympic Games. He raved about the 21-year-old first baseman in an interview with Baseball America.
"Triston Casas at first base was the biggest bat on our team and has the most upside, I think, of any player that we had. He’s going to get his opportunity in the big leagues for sure." Scioscia said.
"He’s advanced beyond his age as far as a hitter. He understands what pitchers are trying to do to him. He’s made some adjustments to his swing just from the qualifiers to now that were tremendous. And I think his ability to hit right and left-handed pitching is a skill set that you don’t see in a lot of young hitters. Especially left-handed hitters. I think he’s a student of the game. He’s got tremendous power to all fields and he’s going to play in the big leagues for a long time."
That's one heck of an endorsement from the two-time Manager of the Year.
Boston Red Sox
Casas, MLB Pipeline's No. 18 ranked prospect, is slashing .274/.361/.415 with six homers and 35 RBI through 58 games with Double-A Portland. It's unlikely we'll see the 2018 first-round draft pick make his MLB debut this year, but he's expected to make an immediate impact on Boston's lineup when he eventually is called up to The Show.