As a rookie in 2023, Triston Casas finished in the 93rd percentile among qualified major league hitters in walk percentage (13.9%), 86th percentile in chase percentage (22.1%) and 92nd percentile in expected weighted on-base percentage (.370).
He takes such pride in commanding the strike zone that he even screamed and flipped his bat after drawing a 14-pitch walk against the Rays at Tropicana Field in April.
Do the Red Sox have another Casas type of hitter nearing the big leagues? Roman Anthony, a 19-year-old center fielder, had an excellent 17.5% walk percentage (86 walks, 491 plate appearances) between Low-A Salem, High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland in his first full professional season in ‘23.
Anthony’s .403 on-base percentage was second among Red Sox minor leaguers (minimum 395 at-bats, min. 100 games) behind only Chase Meidroth (.408).
“Not to say he’s a patient, passive hitter,” Greenville manager Iggy Suarez said about Anthony. “I think he just has a really good knowledge of the strike zone. And if you come into the strike zone, he’s going to get his A swing off.”
Anthony certainly has shown advanced pitch recognition skills like Casas who posted the highest on-base percentage (.367) among rookies with at least 400 at-bats.
“You see that approach and then you see how old he is and it’s crazy because it’s a veteran-like approach,” Suarez said. “And this kid’s barely 19 years old. I look at him and I’m like, ‘I’m so jealous, man. Man, you’re so lucky.’ Then I’m like, ‘I’m so happy you’re on our side.’”
Anthony is selectively aggressive. He does a good job of swinging at pitches he knows he can drive and laying off the pitches he can’t. He might get his pitch early in the count. He has the ability to wait for it and take his walks if it doesn’t come.
“It’s something I’ve taken pride in my whole life,” Anthony said in September. “Swinging at good pitches, getting good pitches to hit. Being aggressive but having controlled aggression at the plate has always been a huge thing for me. I feel like I’ve always done a good job since I was younger at getting the pitch that I’m looking for. Selecting a zone in the box that I’m looking for and really honing in on that until maybe two strikes. But doing a good job at being aggressive with that early. If I get that pitch, trying not to miss it early.”
With two strikes, he’s doing whatever he can to put the ball in play.
“But early in the count just knowing where I’m good at in the zone and knowing what I can do damage with and what I do damage with very well,” he said. “And going up there with an approach. Every pitcher is different. You get different heat zones on different guys for different pitches. But for the most part, just trying to simplify it and do what I know how to do best. Just picking a spot early and sticking to that. Sometimes you’re not always going to get that spot you’re looking for. But just living and dying by that approach. And then when it’s two strikes, it just kind of game on.”
Suarez also mentioned that Anthony is a leader. The Red Sox already have talked so much about top prospect Marcelo Mayer’s leadership skills. Perhaps their top two prospects both have that ability.
“To be able to see that kind of approach and patience, and knowing there’s a way he goes about his business, it’s very veteran-like,” Suarez said. “It’s that leadership quality. He’s not a rah-rah type of guy. He’s going to get down to business and get his work in. Again, you see how young he is and you’re like, ‘Man, he’s just getting started.’ He’s putting himself on the map big-time now with that (approach).”
SoxProspects.com recently moved Anthony into Boston’s No. 1 prospect spot ahead of Mayer. Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline still rank Mayer No. 1 and Anthony No. 2. Baseball America ranks Anthony No. 19 overall on its Top 100 list.
Anthony also hits for power like Casas who ranked in the 89th percentile in expected slugging percentage (.500) last season. Anthony ranked fourth among Red Sox minor leaguers in extra-base hits with 45 (14 homers, 27 doubles, four triples).
He batted .294 with a .412 on-base percentage, .569 slugging percentage, .981 OPS, 12 homers, 14 doubles, three triples, 38 RBIs and 41 runs in 54 games against competition on average more than three years older than him. He finished with 10 games in Portland where he went 12-for-35 (.343) with five extra-base hits.
“I don’t think it’s patient. He’s aggressive,” Suarez said. “But he just knows where the strike zone is. And it’s only going to get better. As you go up in levels, the pitching is going to get a little bit better, the stuff is going to get better. He’s going to learn a lot more and he’s only going to get better.”
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He kept his walk rate high all season but he also had 75 strikeouts (30.6% strikeout percentage) at Greenville. His strikeout rate increased significantly over his final 34 games there, especially vs. left-handers.
“There’s always stuff you can improve on, like that, for example,” he said in September when asked about the rising strikeout rate at Greenville. “It (strikeout percentage) was low during the beginning of the year and then I got to Greenville and it was still pretty low. Then I went through a little patch there where it kind of spiked up a little bit. I think it was the first time I started to get pitched backwards and pitched a little bit differently, too. So it just took a little bit of adjusting and a little bit of knowingness of ‘Hey, take your walks. If they’re not going to give you anything, don’t expand.’
“For me, it took a little bit of time and getting back to that approach of just going up there and living and dying by the approach,” he added. “Being selective with pitches early and trying to get a pitch early I can do damage with and if not, just kind of shut it down until two strikes. Going into next year, obviously there’s a bunch of takeaways I’ve learned that I’ll take into next year. You can always try to work on things like that and get better at things like that.”
