When Boston Red Sox first base prospect Triston Casas made his MLB debut last season, the rookie did not alter his pregame routine.
Before his first big league game, Casas sunbathed shirtless in the outfield at Fenway Park.
The move annoyed one Red Sox veteran, who expressed displeasure when he saw the scene.
“Are you (expletive) kidding me?” the pitcher asked, according to MassLive.
The pregame move by Casas was coupled with naps on the floor in front of his locker, which Casas would start around 90 minutes before the first pitch of games.
Casas said he developed his routine in 2019 while in Single-A Greenville, finding that the time in the sun before games made him more energetic.
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Some of the veteran players were bugged with the rookie’s routine last season, but he appreciated the honesty and only took issue with the critiques he felt were disrespectful.
“I would have been more concerned if they weren’t saying anything to me,” Casas told MassLive. “I felt like that would have meant they didn’t feel like I was going to be (in the majors long). I think the fact they were telling me stuff, the fact they were getting on me for the little things meant that they wanted me to go about things the right way. They wanted me to make sure that I’m going to carry on that tradition throughout the years when I stay up here.”
“If I ever felt like they were trying to make an example out of me, there would be a little bit of a clash, because at that point, I would be considering that disrespect,” Casas said. “But if I know they had good intentions by what they meant, or what they were trying to tell me, then I would definitely oblige and just say yes and keep moving forward, because their respect means a lot to me.”
Casas heads into the 2023 season as Boston’s full-time first baseman after appearing in 27 games last season.
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The 23-year-old made some adjustments to his regiment at the end of last season, though Casas didn’t shelve them all.
“I couldn’t just scratch everything and then try to build a new routine,” he said. “So there were times where I had to compromise with my teammates and meet in the middle and see how I can incorporate things that I needed to do and things that they thought were disrespectful. I had a certain way of doing things. And I found out when I came here some of the things that I was doing just needed an adjustment in terms of the timing or the location.”