3 Reasons the Red Sox Need to Extend Triston Casas Now

This season has been another frustrating one for Red Sox fans with the team hovering on the edge of contention but unable to break through.

At least Boston has a better record than last year, though, and the emergence of Triston Casas is a big reason why. Hailed as one of the team’s top hitting prospects, he hasn’t disappointed in his rookie campaign and has only gotten better as the season’s progressed.

Thanks to a monster second half, the 23-year-old slugger is now up to 23 home runs and 59 RBIs through 123 games, not to mention a .268/.368/.503 batting line. Alex Cora moved him up to cleanup recently and plans to leave him there for the foreseeable future.

Casas looks poised to be a mainstay in the Red Sox lineup for years to come. But if they want to make that happen, they need to do their part and sign him to a contract extension as soon as possible.

As such, here are 3 reasons why Boston should extend Casas right now.

3 Reasons for Red Sox to Extend Triston Casas

1. He’s Already Really, Really Good

We already referenced some of Casas’ numbers above, but they don’t do justice to how terrific he’s been at the plate this year.

For starters, Casas leads all qualified American League rookies in homers (23) and OPS (.871). His OPS is also the 15th-best mark for a rookie in MLB history, tied with Bryce Harper.

As we mentioned above, Casas is only getting better, too. Since the All-Star Break, he’s batting an absurd .340/.433/.680 with 14 homers and 32 RBIs in 45 games. The second half is usually when rookies start to tail off as the league figures them out, but in Casas’ case the opposite has happened.

And then there’s this:

Any time you get mentioned in the same sentence as Ted Williams, you’re doing alright.