Ricky Williams almost quit football for baseball
When Triston Casas stepped to the plate in the second inning of what would be a 7-6 Red Sox loss to the Yankees Tuesday night, there was only one similarity between him and the superstar on the other side, Aaron Judge - size.
Judge: Six-foot-7, 282 pounds.
Casas: Six-foot-5, 252 pounds.
Casas was hitting under .100 with one major league home run, and just eight major leagues games, under his belt. Judge? He continues to walk down the path toward history - both statistically and financially.
But then there was that glimpse from the rookie. A ball that jumped off his bat at over 108 mph, traveling 411 feet, invited the "what might be" kind of conversations.
After two more home runs Tuesday, Judge now owns four more home runs (57) than Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, and J.D. Martinez combined. The point is, the Red Sox could certainly use some of what Casas and Judge were delivering in the series opener.
That's why, when comparing the power-potential package that Casas represents, it's OK to dream.
So, when Casas stepped in front of the mics after the game, the idea of marrying the games of the mammoth rookie and the mammoth history-maker was a lay-up.
"The thing I take away from his swing, especially seeing it live for the first time today, is just his effort level," Casas said. "Going up there swinging pretty slowly, doesn’t sacrifice mechanics. Like I said, didn’t miss his pitches today."
Judge hasn't missed a whole lot of pitches at any point this season.
Along with the home runs, the Yankees star his sitting with a .310 batting average and major league-best 1.105 OPS. It has led many more than just Casas to sit back and dissect exactly how Judge is managing this season of excellence.
"He’s early. He’s on time," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora before Judge's two-home-run game. "And that’s something as an industry we don’t talk about a lot. Everything is mechanics, everything is hitting the ball in the air, but at the end of the day, like the great Manny Ramirez used to say, ‘You’ve got to see the ball.’ Because when you see the ball, you recognize spin, you recognize pitches, you make sound decisions in the strike zone. And he’s early. This is the best I’ve seen him. You still can go to certain areas, but he’s early enough that he’s making decisions way early. Like, I’m not swinging at that pitch."
While Red Sox fans are daring to dream about the Red Sox making a run at the Yankees' free-agent-to-be, they should understand that this quest for power should realistically land more with watching Casas' development.
The Red Sox have the 22nd most homers in the majors, 88 fewer than the Yankees. There have been just 14 home runs out their designated hitter spot (fourth-fewest in MLB) and only 17 from the first basemen.
There is some work to do, which looking across the diamond Tuesday night became even more evident to Alex Cora and Co. For now, they will have to settle for the glimpses given by their own giant.
"It's funny because when he was taking B.P., I was like, ‘Oh, this is the first actually regular day for him at Fenway – show up early, do his routine, take batting practice out there.’ He was shooting balls over the wall," Cora said of Casas. "It was impressive. He put some good at-bats. He had a good all-around ball game. Good jump at first. Stole second. The first one of the year, he said. He's a good player and that's a good pitcher over there. He put some quality at-bats."
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