Back in 2019, the Red Sox was one of the organizations I was in charge of covering for the Angels pro department. 2019 was Casas’ first full season in the pro ranks after being selected by Boston in the first round (26th overall) of the 2018 Draft, and he spent essentially the whole 2019 season at Boston’s A-ball affiliate in Greenville. I had a six game look at Casas and by the end, he was the position player I was most high on in my coverage that year.
At the time, Casas was splitting time between the hot corner and first base, but it was clear that even back in 2019 when I last saw him live, he was destined to be a first baseman long-term. That’s obviously a steep fall on the defensive spectrum, but Casas is a prospect whose offensive profile is so good that the move from third to first base should give you far less concern than most prospects who make that position switch.
Casas hits out of an even, balanced stance with a slight knee bend. His hands are raised slightly and he uses a small, simple stride that keeps him square and is consistently on time upon landing. Casas has a high-slot entry and he shows plus bat speed. He also has significant loft in his path through the zone. It’s efficient and stays in the zone for an extended period of time, and he’s more than capable of leaving the yard to all fields. Here’s a video of him really showing his juice and going deep to LCF.
Casas has continued to improve his already advanced plate discipline that I saw in-person back in 2019. I put a future plus-plus mark on his discipline/on-base value back then and I feel good about that coming true still. He has posted a 13.6 BB% over his MiLB career, including a 14.7 BB% mark this year in AAA. Casas’ ability to stay in the zone and not expand his zone is a large reason why I believe he’ll be able to fully tap into his plus-plus raw power during game action. Casas is one of those hitters who frequently identifies pitches out of the pitcher’s hand as balls so early that he has already shut down his swing by the time the ball has crossed the plate. How quickly a hitter can slam the breaks on their swing once they identify a pitch as a ball is always something I watch closely, and Casas stood out instantly in that regard.
While plus contact ability isn’t in Casas’ game, for as much power as I project him to produce, he doesn’t run as high of K totals as many sluggers. Casas has a career 21.5 K% in his Minor League career and was carrying a similar 21 K% during his time at AAA this season (334 PA’s) where he was 4.3 years younger than the average player in the league.
One area of concern in Casas’ game is how well he handles same side pitching (LHP’s). The past two Minor League seasons when Casas was at AA and AAA he posted consecutive .619 OPS seasons against left-handed pitchers and has only hit one HR against southpaws over the past two seasons. Because of how well Casas knows the zone and how disciplined he is as a hitter, I’m confident that he’ll continue to increase his production against same-side pitchers the more AB’s he gets against them, and will settle into an approach that works best for him.
As I touched on above, Casas isn’t going to provide significant value on the defensive side of the ball, mainly due to where that position falls on the defensive spectrum, but he is far from a liability at first base. I have a future 55 grade on his defensive abilities there. There’s no quick twitch in him and that will hinder his overall range, but the hands work enough to easily complete routine plays and dig the occasional errant throw out of the dirt. Since he’s only recently a 1B-only player, I think he’ll quickly improve his glove now that it’s the only defensive position he has to focus on.
With Casas projecting to be a plus hitter and double-plus power producer, he has all the makings of a middle of the order hitter in any lineup that he’s in. In addition, his discipline at the plate also projects to be plus-plus which will result in well above average on-base skills and value. I’m going to enjoy watching Casas continue his development at the ML level and evolve into the plus player he’s capable of being.
