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Triston Casas – as evidenced by his Talks Hitting interview last summer – has a thoughtful approach to his craft. The 24-year-old Boston Red Sox slugger, who is currently on the injured list with torn rib cartilage, is not afraid to be himself, as many fans have experienced during his in-game interview with ESPN on Sunday Night Baseball on Father’s Day. Call him quirky or whatever you want, but when it comes to damaging baseballs, Casas knows what he does best. Over 687 career plate appearances, he has 35 home runs and a 128 wRC+.

Casas talked about his preparation process ahead of a recent game at Fenway Park.

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David Laurila: How do you train for hitting?

Triston Casas: “When you say hit, I assume you hit the ball. There is so much that goes into hitting the baseball. There are a lot of moving parts mechanically (and) mentally that culminate in the perfect storm of creating that compression between the barrel of the bat and the ball. How do I train that? It has a lot to do with my weight room routine. I try to think of the swing as my most athletic movement. I don’t want it to be mechanical, rigid or thought out. I just want it to be liquid. Effortless.”

Laurila: And reactive, I suppose…

Casas: “Sure. When you think about how hard it is to hit a baseball… I mean, the plate is seven balls wide and, generously, about ten balls high. You need a range of about 50 miles per hour travel, between 70 and 100 – that’s typically the normal speed range – and then there’s a pitch that moves in all directions at the bottom of a bell So you multiply 30 times 70 times about six, generously – maybe seven or eight -. and there are many options. Not to mention that each pitcher has a different height. They all have different wingspan sizes. They all come out at a different extension point or discharge height.

“There could be two 80-mile-an-hour curveballs that… I mean, I can look back at my at-bats and there could be two 80-mile-an-hour curveballs up the middle, and they still don’t have the same pitch. They come from different unloading heights. The speeds are different. The stats on that are all different. So it’s not as simple as, “Oh, let me look at two swings side by side with the exact same pitch,” because the circumstances may be different. The defensive positioning may be different. My setup should have been different. And my thought process, my approach… all those things play a role in how I position myself in the box, and the adjustments I make at bat throughout the season.

“Training is about the innate ability to just go out there and compete. In my opinion, there aren’t many mechanical exercises you can do. Yes, there are certain signals you can give yourself mentally to try to put yourself in a good position, or get yourself into a good, strong contact position – the balanced one. There are definitely many characteristics that great hitters have in common, but ultimately it’s about being able to make a decision after the ball is released. That’s one of the things I talk about a lot with the hitters here. Trying to be anticipatory and hitting the ball in the right spot is not a good recipe for success. Yes, it may produce a result, but it is a falsified result. It’s a moment of happiness. But to create a sustainable amount of success, I feel like there has to be a reactionary, involuntary, timed… war, almost. It’s a war in your body and in your mind.

“That’s how I train hitting, by not overcomplicating the mechanics. It’s about understanding that for me it’s all about feeling within the framework. It’s about going out there and trying to execute a game plan.

Laurila: Because no two fields are exactly the same, do you train with a Trajekt? That individualizes a pitcher’s speed, movement and slot. Correct?

Casas: “Yes, they are individualizing the release points and all that, but it doesn’t simulate how the pitcher tips the curveball. Even though it’s a pitcher’s projection, every pitcher on the mound – whether they think so or not, or whether anyone else does – is tipping the pitch, because they have to do something different to throw a curveball then a fastball. Within that pitch, or as he comes down the hill, there is an adjustment he needs to make to slow down the speed and add spin. A Trajekt does not necessarily project that.

“I can see how the Trajekt could benefit some hitters. I actually enjoy using the Trajekt – I can’t speak for anyone else – but it’s mostly about the timing of its movement. It’s a little bit better of a gauge than necessarily just doing it from the back of the video. It would be a bit difficult to change his timing just by doing scouting report videos. By getting a projected image so I can synchronize my dance a bit with the thrower, I see the Trajekt being the most useful.

“In terms of trying to develop a game plan because of his plot chart, and his pitch characteristics, and his slider stats – or breaking balls compared to each other – it’s not that precise what I can really be, ‘Yeah, that sees look exactly the same as outside.’ That said, the Trajekt is a great tool. I’ve used it a lot in my rehab process, just in terms of tracking and trying to stay sharp with my reaction times.

“It’s something I want to incorporate into my game day routine. So far I haven’t done that, I’ve just taken a few strokes of a regular machine and then let it rip when it’s time to play.

Laurila: Why haven’t you used it for race day preparation until now?

Casas: “It’s something I’d never really done before this level, so I tried not to overcomplicate things and add something that I didn’t feel like needed to be adjusted into my routine.”

Laurila: Do the Red Sox have Trajekt in the minors?

Casas: “They have it in Triple-A now, but when I was in Triple-A in 2022, they didn’t have that. Last year, in 2023, they were still refining it. I haven’t found a way to buy it yet, but I’m really starting to like it. Even if it’s just for something as simple as tracking or even bunting, I’m just trying to get that reaction time back in my favor.”

Laurila: What do you mean by dangling?

Csasas: “I literally stand there and follow the ball all the way to the barrel and try to manipulate the point of contact to whichever side of the field I want. Bunting is such a powerful tool and skill to display out there. But just to be able to do it in a controlled environment… the Trajekt, for example, is still heavy. I feel like it can help you slow the ball down, which is everything in hitting – being able to try to make a 98 mph fastball look like an 80 mph fastball. That’s what big hitters do. They have calm heads and balanced postures. They make the game seem slower than it actually is.”

Laurila: Training for high velocity, say an Ohtani fastball, can only help…

Casas: “I asked for exaggerated features of the Trajekt because I want it to seem a bit unrealistic. Some people find it a bit more toned down, because they want to start the game with peace of mind. I prefer my practice to be a bit more challenging. I asked for vertical values ​​of 27-28. I asked for horizontal images which are unrealistic. I like the challenge. So yes, I can definitely see myself using it more.”

Laurila: Is there anything else we need to discuss in terms of preparation? I know you’re big on meditation and visualization…

Casas: “Of course. They’re such a big part of my routine. You can make everything in your mind look the way you want. No matter who I face that day or at bat, I can adjust whatever I want. If I close my eyes and imagine a pitcher vividly enough, I can make his features jump off the page. I can make his breaking ball so sharp. I can imagine his pitches do what they do.

“Even when I do my tracking in the bullpen… the eyes are such an underrated part of the body and part of training. There are muscles in the eyes that are underdeveloped if you don’t really develop them. When hitting, the eyes are the most important. Everyone will tell you that. It’s such an undertrained resource. The eyes and the ability to see depth – being able to look at the space in front of the ball is such an underrated, understudied skill. It’s not just looking at the ball. It is being able to anticipate the movement and rotation of the ball based on the tips the pitcher gives you. That all has to do with my process and preparation.”