Triston Casas hit his first career MLB home run and the elite Red Sox prospect has looked good, which puts even more pressure on Boston to sign their stars.
At this point, it’s safe to call it a lost season for the Boston Red Sox. However, fans are looking for things to cling to and they’ve got one early in September with the call-up of the organization’s No. 2 prospect and the best first-baseman prospect in baseball, Triston Casas.
And on Tuesday, Casas showed why so many fans and evaluators are so excited to see what the 22-year-old slugger brings to the table.
In the second inning of Tuesday night’s game in Tampa Bay against the Rays, Casas worked a count and then hammered a pitch over the right field fence for his first career home run.
Prior to Tuesday night’s game, Casas had just one hit in his first eight MLB at-bats. But his ninth proved to be fruitful and showed the power-hitting talent that Boston has coming up the pipeline. In that same vein, though, it also puts pressure on Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox front office to do what fans have been calling for over quite some time: Sign Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers.
Red Sox: Triston Casas’ arrival puts pressure on Boston to sign Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers
While one home run isn’t a reason to get overly excited about the overall future of a player, the fact of the matter is that Casas’ turn in the majors has been a long time coming and he has the tools to be a true force at the plate for years to come. As such, Boston has to feel the heat to have their other stars still in or entering their primes around him.
The Red Sox locked up Trevor Story to a long-term contract this past offseason and recently did the same for Kiké Hernandez. But the futures of Bogaerts and Devers have been left up in the air as the front office has reportedly offered insultingly low deals for homegrown stars.
That won’t fly with this team and fanbase. This team had the chance to be great in the 2022 season but Bloom and Co. failed to address some of the biggest areas of concern (the bullpen being a prominent one). And now it feels like the team is at risk of losing Bogaerts and Devers if they don’t address their futures in an adequate manner.
Casas is further proof why that’s unacceptable. This is a team that could still have a bright future despite a down year and the rookie call-up is part of that. However, if he’s not joined in the future by Bogaerts and Devers, that’s an abject failure on the part of the Red Sox.