The Boston Red Sox are in the thick of the American League Wild Card race as the 2023 MLB season approaches the trade deadline, and while they have run hot or cold for much of the year, it appears as if they are going to be in the hunt for the rest of the season. If that's the case, it's sure a good thing that Triston Casas is finally figuring things out at the plate.

Casas, who qualifies as a rookie this year after playing in just 27 games for the Sox last year, has had a fairly rocky season for Boston to this point. While he has excellent plate discipline, he was struggling to rack up hits early in the season, and the calls for him to be replaced as the team's starting first baseman were growing.

However, Casas quietly began to turn things around in June, and has been on an absolute tear since returning from the All-Star break. With the Sox struggling with inconsistency at different spots on their roster, having Casas develop into a consistent contributor is key, and he may just be making a star turn at the perfect time for the Red Sox.

Triston Casas is beginning to reach his potential with the Red Sox

It wasn't long ago that Casas seemed to be the next top Red Sox prospect that would be unable to reach his potential. After an 0-4 game in a loss to the Colorado Rockies on June 12th, Casas' average dipped down to .197, which was pretty awful considering he was playing basically everyday as Boston's starting first baseman.

Ever since then, though, Casas has been a completely different player. In the ensuing 27 games, Casas has played the best baseball of his young career (.341 BA, 7 HR, 16 RBI, 1.091 OPS), raising his batting average all the way up to .244. If you want to shorten that sample size to the eight games since the All-Star break, you can see that is when Casas has done most of his damage during this recent hot streak (.455 BA, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 1.783 OPS).

These are small samples from a long 162-game season, but it's becoming clear that Casas has finally found his groove at the plate. He's still selective with what pitches he's swinging at, but he's beginning to put the barrel on the ball with much more frequency. Casas has always had great power at the plate, and he's been hitting bombs at a high rate since returning from the break.

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Casas has had stretches where he's looked like he's been breaking out of his shell before, only to fall apart quickly, so there is a chance that he will regress as time moves on. However, it's been a month now since he began to orchestrate this turnaround, and he's scalding hot right now. It's beginning to look like Casas has finally arrived.

For Boston, this is a massive win for them. Not only is Casas producing in a lineup that has received great production from Rafael Devers, Masataka Yoshida, and Justin Turner this season, but he also looks like to be the long-term option at first base that he was always supposed to be. For a time, Casas looked like the left-handed version of Bobby Dalbec.

After splitting their quick doubleheader with the New York Mets on Saturday, the Red Sox are currently two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the third and final wild card spot in the American League. In order for them to actually make a run for a playoff spot, they are likely going to have to be buyers at the trade deadline. But receiving this production from Casas could be like trading for a new star player without giving up anything in return.

Casas obviously isn't going to hit .455 the rest of the way out and hit a home run every other game, but if he can continue to find his way on base and hit for average, that could be what the Sox need to fuel their playoff run. They obviously need a bit more help when it comes to their pitching staff, but adding Casas' new level of production to an already solid lineup could push them to a new level.

The Red Sox haven't had a lot go right for them over the past few years in terms of roster building, but seeing homegrown players such as Casas and Brayan Bello breakout this season is a sign that better things are coming for this team. Those better things could end up coming as soon as this season if Boston can find their way into the postseason, and if they do, chances are the red-hot Casas will end up playing a big role in that happening.