Triston Casas | 1B
Background
Casas, 18, attends baseball powerhouse American Heritage School in South Florida. The school has produced Eric Hosmer and 2016 first rounder Zack Collins, among others. This spring Casas is hitting .393/.581/.901 with six homers, 27 walks, and nine strikeouts through 24 games. He’s committed to the University of Miami.
Scouting Report
As you’d expect from a left-handed hitting first baseman this size (6-foot-4 and 238 lbs.), Casas stands out for his power. His raw power is among the best in the draft class — the Yankees are exit velocity believers and Casas has lit up tracking systems in summer showcase events — and he can drive the ball out of the park to any field. Casas is more than a brute masher too. He has a sound approach and makes good contact, though there are holes in his swing that need to be closed up. Casas has an excellent arm — he sits in the low-90s on the mound — and he’s a good athlete for his size, enough that there’s some thought he could move to third base, a position he’s played at times. The consensus seems to be that first base is his long-term home, however. Either way, Casas is a bat-first prospect.
Miscellany
In their latest rankings both MLB.com and Baseball America ranked Casas as the 25th best prospect in the draft class. Keith Law (subs. req’d) ranked him 29th. The Yankees hold the 23rd overall pick. For what it’s worth, Baseball America recently reported scouting director Damon Oppenheimer has already made several trips to see Casas. The scouting director doesn’t go to see everyone. The Yankees have enough interest in Casas that their highest scouting executive has put eyes on him multiple times. The track record of high school first basemen taken in the first round is really bad. That doesn’t guarantee Casas will be flame out. It just means there might be some profile bias in play come draft day.
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