By most accounts, Triston Casas is either the Red Sox' best or second-best prospect.
The first baseman has excelled ever since the Red Sox chose him in the first round of the 2018 draft. Last season, spent mostly at Double-A Portland before an end-of-season promotion to Worcester, he compiled a .394 on-base percentage and an OPS of .877.
As a member of the U.S. Olympic team, he performed well enough to be chosen to the All-Olympic team, then, after his minor league season, starred in the Arizona Fall League, too, compiling a .982 OPS.
One thing that Casas hasn't done, however, is hit a lot of homers. In 86 games split between Double and Triple-A, he hit 14 -- a respectable enough total, to be sure, but not the kind of production usually associated with elite sluggers at his position.
Still, as he takes part in the Red Sox Winter Warm-Up Program in Fort Myers, Casas is far from concerned. From his standpoint, more power is just a matter of time.
"I've always chased on-base percentage as opposed to slugging percentage,'' Casas said recently. "I feel like on-base puts you in a good process to make contact, grind out at-bats, swing at good pitches and I think that leads to the end result of wanting to slug, wanting to drive the ball. But more importantly, to be a power hitter, you shouldn't have to try to hit home runs, or try to make something happen.
"I know I'm plenty big and strong enough. I'm more than capable enough to tap into that power; it's just a matter of swinging at the right pitches, in the right counts, and mentally, I've engaged on what I'm trying to accomplish in the box.''
Indeed, of the 13 homers Casas belted at Portland, some were tape-measure shots, measured well over 450 feet. Even if he didn't rack up huge power numbers, when he did connect, he left no doubt about his ability to drive the ball out of ballparks.
Casas learned last season that patience is a virtue at the plate. Rather than trying to prove that he can slug, he came to understand that being selective would force pitchers to throw him more hittable pitches.
"It's not a matter of, 'I'll go in there and start banging and they'll be afraid to pitch to me,' '' he offered. "It's the opposite. They're going to start nibbling, see if they can draw me off, see if I can chase.' I realized if I learn to be more patient, draw more walks and just stop swinging at fringe pitches and stay close to the hitter's zone as opposed to the strike zone, I was a lot better off. That's what I'm going to try to (continue) in 2022.
"But I think I'm close. I think my swing's really dialed in and I'm really excited to get into the season, get some at-bats going and see what if what I'm working on is beneficial.''
In the minds of some evaluators, Casas has been compared to Freddie Freeman, who has a similar build and a line-drive approach. In four years in the minors, Freeman never hit more than 18 homers in a single season. In time, however, Freeman grew into his power and has since hit 30 or more homers in the big leagues three times.
Like Freeman, Casas stands at 6-foot-5. But he's also bulked up to 265 pounds, having added 25 pounds of muscle in the last four years since coming out of high school.
"I feel just as strong and as fast as the day (I was drafted),'' said Casas. "I don't think I've sacrificed any mobility for weight.''
Under Chaim Bloom, the Red Sox have stressed the need to continue a prospect's development, so despite an impressive 2021, it's highly doubtful that Casas will make the big league roster out of spring training. In all likelihood, he'll need to spend the first half of the season at Worcester before reaching his ultimate destination.
He's eager -- as all minor leaguers are -- to reach the majors. But it's more important for him to stick once he arrives.
"I'm always just looking forward to what's ahead of me and controlling what I can control,'' he said. "I'm just getting ready to play at the major league level. I know it's not a matter of 'if,' it's a matter of 'when.' I know that it's going to happen one day and I want to prepare as well as possible and make an impact when I get there and hit the ground rolling and not look back and hopefully, get a one-way ticket.''