The games don't mean much now, not really. They haven't for a while.
For the veterans, there's some pride at stake, maybe a statistical milestone or two worth chasing. Otherwise, most of the players would prefer for this disappointing season to be over yesterday.
Games like the one that took place Tuesday night at Fenway don't help matters. The first four innings took nearly two and a half hours, and for a time, it seemed like the two bullpen doors in right field might come off their hinges from overuse. Together, the clubs sent 14 pitchers to the mound in an often futile attempt to find just one who could throw strikes and record outs.
Too often, it was a losing battle.
But while most of the established players are trying to get to the finish line, a few are trying to make their mark. They have something to show, or something to prove, and for them, the September games aren't meaningless at all.
They're getting a head start on spring training, on next season, trying to stake their claim.
Rest assured, Triston Casas wasn't bored with the nearly four-hour-long marathon that took place. He was in no hurry to cross one more game off the 2022 calendar, or fast forward to the end of the year.
Casas is learning, improving, and showing that in his case, the hype is eminently believable.
In the Red Sox' 13-9 softball game of a win over the Baltimore Orioles, Casas reached base in each of his first four plate appearances. He hit the only homer of the night for the Red Sox when he swatted a pitch into the Monster Seats with J.D. Martinez on base in the second. He walked and scored in the third, singled and scored in the fourth and singled to lead off the fifth inning.
Having made his major league debut just over three weeks ago, Casas has, like a lot of top prospects, struggled at times. Highly selective at the plate, his passive approach has resulted in getting behind the count early. In turn, that's sometimes forced some defensive swings as the at-bats continue.
While the walks pile up, he hasn't been getting the results he would like when he puts the ball in play. He came into Tuesday's game batting just .135. A quick glance at the stat sheet might make the casual fan wonder whether the projections of stardom were ill-founded.
To his credit, however, Casas hasn't deviated from his approach. He's not about to swing at pitches outside the strike zone, or even those on the edges. He's preternaturally patient, insistent that he swing at pitches on which he can truly do damage.
"He controls the strike zone; the strike zone doesn't control him,'' gushed Alex Cora.
At times, his hulking frame seems to be working against him as umpires extend his strike zone. Still, Casas maintains his discipline. Eventually, the thinking goes, pitchers will have to come after him, and then, he will have won the battle.
Perhaps that battle turned some last night. He was ready, on a 2-and-0, to drive a pitch out to left in the second for his fifth homer. And yet, in his next plate appearance, he resumed his discerning approach, working a walk. Finally, in his fourth at-bat, he hit a chopper over the mound and legged out a leadoff single, payback, perhaps, for some hard-hit balls that had been caught in recent weeks.
"I felt like (after I first got called up), my at-bats were pretty lengthy but I still wasn't making good contact,'' he said. "I wasn't finding the barrel. Lately, I have been. Yeah, I've been grinding out at-bats the same, but I've been having better results and I'm happy about that. It's just the ebb and flow of the season. Sometimes you go through stretches where stuff falls and sometimes you hit it hard, right at guys, and you can't really explain it.
"There's a lot of luck involved. The important thing is grinding out at-bats, swinging at good pitches and controlling what I can control.''
The result have been coming. Over his last six games, he's batting .389 (7-for-18) with three homers and six RBI. And, of course, a ton of walks: eight of them. He's one of four players to hit five or more homers and draw at least 14 walks in his first 20 games in the big leagues
Not to be overlooked was his play at first base. He turned in a terrific play in the fifth, gathering a hard-hit ball off the bat of Austin Hays to the right of first before gathering himself quickly and sliding into the bag just before the baserunner.
"I take a lot of pride in defense,'' he said. "I work on it heavily every day. Hitting home runs is great, driving in runs is great, but making a great play on defense picks everybody up. It picks up the defense, gets us back into the dugout, keeps the momentum on our side, keeps the pitcher in the game, keeps his pitch count down and saves our bullpen.''
"For everything he's done offensively, I think the defense is the thing that I'm actually enjoying,'' said Cora. "The way he moves, he's smooth. He knows the game. He's always looking around to see what the next play is. I knew he was good defensively but (I didn't know he was) this aware. And he is.''