Red Sox's Triston Casas Visualized Home Run Off Yankees' Gerrit Cole For Years
Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas has never lacked confidence, and was well aware he'd get his fill of the historic rivalry against the New York Yankees.
The 22-year-old never had a doubt he'd not only make his big league debut shortly after being drafted in the first round of the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft but would have plenty of opportunities to make his mark in arguably the greatest rivalry in sports.
In his mission to do damage against the Yankees, he naturally thought about Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on the other side of the matchup.
"(Cole) signed the largest contract as a pitcher in baseball history and it was for the Yankees for nine years, and I figured that sounds about the amount of time that I should be here in Boston, and I feel like I’m going to face him, I’m going to have many battles with him," Casas told Rob Bradford on WEEI's "Bradfo Sho" on Wednesday. "I think he’s definitely a guy I want to get comfortable in the box against and it starts with the visualization part."
The hulking slugger did not take long to get comfortable against Cole, as he swatted a 411-foot, two-run blast in his first at-bat against the flamethrowing right-hander on Sept. 13.
"That at-bat started years ago, years ago," Casas said. "I've been visualizing that moment, that at-bat versus Gerrit Cole really since he signed that contract with the Yankees. He's the best pitcher in the American League right now, in my opinion, whenever I closed my eyes and visualized a pitcher on the mound it was him. “That at-bat, it was crazy walking up to the plate for me, stepping in the box against him. It was really a surreal moment just how much he’s dominated the league and everything that he’s done. It was awesome to step into the box and be able to do that, first at-bat really kind of made me feel comfortable for sure."
Casas is hitting .267 with three home runs, six RBIs, a 3-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.367 OPS in six games against the Yankees. Not a bad start for a man committed to making anyone in pinstripes regret opposing him.
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