The young, oft-injured first baseman is ready to become a star.
Since the retirement of David Ortiz and Chris Sale’s recession into injury purgatory prior to being traded, the Red Sox haven’t had a true leading personality, someone who could draw the attention of both the media and fans off the field. Rafael Devers is hilarious in his limited on-camera interactions, most of which come via videos produced in-house by Red Sox media staff. Rob Refsnyder made a name for himself with some funny postgame interviews. But Triston Casas is truly what Boston needs for a resurrecting team filled with new faces, especially as baseball fades into the background of the four major sports.
At Saturday’s Fenway Fest, Red Sox fans got a preview of the upcoming Netflix documentary covering their 2024 season. According to reactions on the internet following the exclusive sneak-peek, Triston Casas is apparently one of the series’ stars. And this is absolutely the correct decision. Last season was one to forget overall. But the first half, the team celebrations, the shutouts, and home runs all brought fun into a season that featured continuous pitfalls. And Casas was at the heart of plenty of these moments.
While he had less than half of the plate appearances that he did in 2023, Casas not only continued to look like Boston’s future first baseman on the field, but he also appeared to be important to team morale off it. When he was sidelined with a rib injury for nearly three months of the season, he didn’t limit his presence or disappear from the team. Instead, during his stint on the 60-day IL, Casas had one of his shining moments that truly proved him to be not only the player but the personality that this team needs.
It was a Sunday Night Baseball rivalry game on Father’s Day, and Casas was still in the dugout for every game while recovering from his injury. But even though he wasn’t playing that night, he had plenty of time on the broadcast, as he was featured in an in-game interview on ESPN. Casas got to shout out his father, Jose, who raised him and his brother after his mother passed when he was young. He showed his appreciation for his dad’s commitment to raising them and always supporting their baseball dreams. After this heartfelt moment, Casas showed another side of his multilayered personality, as he began conducting interviews with his teammates in the dugout, including an interview in Spanish with Brayan Bello, who was wearing Kenley Jansen’s warm-up shirt during his night off. Casas talked for nearly ten straight minutes about whatever came to his mind, which brought so much attention to him and Boston on social media that night.
Casas is the publicity-through-player-personality that the Red Sox absolutely need as they battle for relevance in the 2020s. That Sunday Night Baseball interview was just one example of what he can bring to the table, and I’m so excited to see more of this in the upcoming documentary. Although Netflix obviously isn’t very interested in how this documentary affects Boston’s marketability, popularity, or general public reception, it is very good for the Red Sox that Casas seems to be a core part of the program.
He’s snacked on fruit midgame in the dugout, screamed after drawing a 14-pitch walk, interviewed David Hamilton postgame, and worked the mic during a mic’d up game for NESN. He’s drawn love (and hate) on social media for his unique style and pre-game routines and created connections with fans through visits and podcast appearances that further showcase who he is as a person.
And all that he offers is a necessity for this team as it looks to redefine itself and re-enter the realm of relevance in an increasingly competitive AL East. There’s no reason that the Red Sox should trade Casas just for what he provides on the field, but the connections he makes with fans, media and teammates is another added layer of why Casas absolutely needs to be in Boston’s plans for the future, and not on the trade block.