Triston Casas belts three homers during Cubs series, 'confidence never wavers'
On Sunday afternoon, Triston Casas was scheduled to have the day off. With the Cubs starting left-hander Justin Steele, the young first baseman was on the bench for the series finale.
As the Sox offense attacked Steele and eventually forced Cubs skipper David Ross to pull him from the game, Casas had an opportunity to do something he hasn’t done in his big league career.
During the eight inning, Casas pinch hit for Justin Turner. He would crush a 95 mph heater off reliever Adbert Alzolay into the seats for his third dinger in three games.
The two-run shot for Casas was his 12th of the year and capitalized on Alzolay’s mistake leaving the ball over the heart of the plate.
“(Mistakes) come so seldomly that when you do get a mistake and you miss it, it’s pretty demoralizing in the box, said Casas postgame to reporters. “Just trying to move forward in that at-bat and knowing that you missed that pitch. It’s tough, so not getting behind in the count and hitting the last couple of days has felt really good.”
Casas hit home runs on both Friday and Saturday in Chicago. The Florida native admitted to reporters on Friday night that he keeps track of his homers.
“Because they happen so infrequently that I can keep track of those,” said Casas while smiling postgame.
Over the last couple of months, Casas has seen his confidence and numbers at the plate rise.
After struggling in the month of April, collecting just 10 hits in 92 plate appearances, he has seen a steady climb in his statistics over May and June.
Casas posted a .257/.338/.429/.766 line in 80 plate appearances with three homers and eight RBI in May and a .286/.375/.476/.851 line with three homers and 11 RB in 96 plate appearances in June.
“I haven’t lacked confidence,” Casas said. “The confidence has always been there. The production has not. But the confidence comes from the preparation. It comes from my routine. And that hasn’t changed. Coming to work every day with a good mindset, a positive one, ready to contribute however I can. Some days I do. Some days I don’t. But confidence never wavers.”
The Sox first baseman credits his teammate Masataka Yoshida for being a role model despite the language barrier.
“I haven’t lacked confidence,” Casas said. “The confidence has always been there. The production has not. But the confidence comes from the preparation. It comes from my routine. And that hasn’t changed. Coming to work every day with a good mindset, a positive one, ready to contribute however I can. Some days I do. Some days I don’t. But confidence never wavers.”
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