Red Sox rookie Triston Casas has moment in the sun in first game at Fenway

Triston Casas, a heralded prospect in the Red Sox farm system made his major league debut after the Red Sox called him up from Worcester to play first base. 

 Casas, 22, was the Red Sox first-round draft pick in 2018 out of American Heritage in Plantation, Florida. Before his call-up, he had played parts of two seasons at the Red Sox AAA team in Worcester, hitting .269 with 12 home runs in 81 games. He is 6 feet, 4 inches tall, is listed at 242 pounds, and bats left and throws right. 

He was 1-4 in his debut game, a 5-2 Red Sox victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. In his first at-bat he very nearly hit a home run on a long flyout to the right-field corner

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But even before the first pitch, Casas was making his presence felt on the roster like no one before him.

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Three hours before game time, people witnessed a shirtless Casas sunbathing and doing yogo in the rightfield grass. It did not go unnoticed in the staid Red Sox clubhouse, where reading a book without pictures will get you labeled a weirdo.

Sean McAdam for the Boston Sports Journal reports the veteran Red Sox players were taken aback by a shirtless Casas sunbathing in the outfield. He quotes an unnamed player exclaiming “Are you (expletive) kidding me?” 

Casas told WEEI's Rob Bradford that sunning in the outfield is just part of his pre-game routine and has been for the last several months in Worcester. 

"I don’t know necessarily like caffeine. I don’t drink coffee or energy drinks,” he said. “I feel better after I get some sunlight on my body and that’s what I do. I go out there in the grass.” 

Bradford reported Casas said he doesn’t think too much about it in terms of grounding or any scientific explanation.

“I just and I don’t think too much of it in terms of grounding or any science behind it but I just feel better after I do it." 

Casas said he was surprised to be called up to the majors, and he broke down in tears when he called his father on Saturday night, according to Chris Smith of MassLive.com 

Casas said his father was the first person he called after Triple-A Worcester manager Chad Tracy told him about his promotion to Boston on Saturday evening.

 “My pops, of course,” the 22-year-old first baseman said. “As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I broke down in tears. I told him. I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s coming true.” 

He did not know he was being called up until he saw he was not listed in the Worcester starting lineup on Saturday and went to the manager to ask why. 

He told Masslive the manager told him “you need to be rested tomorrow when you play in Fenway.”

To open the spot on the roster for Casas, the Red Sox sent first baseman Bobby Dalbec back to Pawtucket.  Dalbec, who has terrific power, showed flashes of it during the season with the occasional home run. But his alarming number of strikeouts and overall lack of production tried the Red Sox's patience to the point where sending him back down became necessary.