There have been several instances where it's looked like the Boston Red Sox have been dead to rights during the 2023 season, and yet, with just a few weeks left on the season, they still could make a late push for the final wild card spot in the American League. One of the guys who is keeping their offense alive down the stretch of the season is Triston Casas, who has been on an absolute tear for months now.

The Red Sox are 4.5 games behind the Texas Rangers for the final wild card spot in the AL, and they would have to hop over the Toronto Blue Jays to find their way into the postseason as well. But Casas has continued to deliver for Boston as the season has gone on, with the latest example of this coming on Monday afternoon when he hammered a three-run home run to turn a 3-1 deficit against the Tampa Bay Rays into a 4-3 lead the Sox would never relinquish.

Casas' turnaround is incredible, and he simply has not let his foot off the gas pedal over the past few months. In the process, Casas has made the race for AL Rookie of the Year quite interesting, and if he can continue to hit at this incredible rate, he should walk away with the award when the season officially comes to a close.

Triston Casas is making a legit case to win AL Rookie of the Year

For most of April and May, Casas' batting average sat below .200, and fans were shocking themselves by making legit cases to promote Bobby Dalbec to the majors to take Casas' spot at first base. Casas was awful to start the year, and it seemed like the Red Sox had another overhyped prospect flaming out at the major league level.

Casas had a .194 batting average on June 7th, and then all of a sudden, everything changed. Since that day, Casas has been playing at a near-MVP level for the Red Sox. Casas' numbers on the season are pretty solid right now (.268 BA, 23 HR, 59 RBI, .871 OPS), but it's worth noting that pretty much all that production has come over the past three months of action (.320 BA, 17 HR, 42 RBI, 1.007 OPS).

This is the sort of turnaround that no one, not even Casas himself, could have seen coming. He went from being on the verge of getting replaced as the team's starting first baseman to becoming arguably their best hitter on the season. Casas' .871 OPS on the entire season is second on the team behind Adam Duvall, who also missed a big chunk of the season with a broken wrist.

It feels like everyone has been waiting for Casas to cool off, but he simply hasn't, and it seems like he may have finally figured things out at the major league level. It's gotten to the point where Casas appears to be seriously challenging Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles for the AL Rookie of the Year award.

Henderson has been more consistent than Casas on the year (.254 BA, 23 HR, 70 RBI, 9 SB, .813 OPS) and has added more value to his team as a fielder, but it's becoming clear that he is getting smoked by Casas at the plate. Since the start of June, there really haven't been many hitters who have been outperforming Casas, and he's clearly been the most productive rookie in the league during that stretch.

When you ignore the first two months of the season, this isn't even a contest. The problem is that Casas was virtually invisible during April and May, which gave Henderson the opportunity to build up a lead in the race he hasn't relinquished yet. And with just a few weeks left in the season, Casas may ultimately run out of time to make his case.

But his continued hot streak cannot be ignored. Henderson may have been more consistent on the year, but he has been nowhere near Casas' level for a few months now. Casas had an incredibly large gap to make up in terms of his production at the plate, and he has somehow managed to erase it to the point where he is outproducing Henderson in a slew of hitting categories.

Casas may not ultimately earn this award, but it's clear he has a ton of momentum, and is actively closing the gap on Henderson. And while there may be a bit of bias here, it looks like his numbers are deserving of winning him the award over Henderson. Triston Casas has been one of the hottest hitters in the league for months now, and while he had a painfully slow start, that shouldn't prevent him from walking away with the AL Rookie of the Year award when the season is officially over.