Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas went viral on social media after he said he had been swinging for 10 weeks in his mind while he was injured.
Casas sustained a rib fracture in April against the Pittsburgh Pirates after a swing put him in some discomfort. With how much time the first baseman has been sidelined for, he resorted to swinging in his head.
After he made the comment, many fans questioned how and why he would swing in his head. On the MLB TikTok Home Run Derby live stream on Monday, Casas answered all those questions.
“I swing in my head, I do a lot of mental reps,” Casas told internet personality Kaitlin Maniscalco. “I think there is only so many things you can do physically before your body completely gives out and gets taxed. So, especially in this case (of) my recovery process, I find visualization and manifestation, even meditation parts of my routine and parts of my process to prepare for the game.”
It’s not rare for the 24-year-old to participate in meditation, something that has been a part of his routine since the minor leagues. The Red Sox even made a bobblehead of Casas’ on-field pregame meditation routine.
The routine of mental swings in his head helps him be more confident in himself before he faces a pitcher.
“If I do it enough times in my head, I feel like I can believe I can do it in real life. And if I can do it in my head, I can do it in real life,” Casas said. “It’s almost like tricking myself into being able to do it.”
Casas says he will imagine a specific pitcher and visualize the pitch they will throw. He will tweak the pitch to go through the different approaches he can take.
If Casas gets mentally tired, then he will take a break from the mental swings.
“I can make (pitches) look as much as I want in my head, especially with the swings, I can do as many as I need before I get tired,” Casas said. “Mentally you can get tired as well, so I just do it until I get tired.”
The first baseman has been taking dry swings but still has soreness in his ribs. Manager Alex Cora believes that Casas should be back not much longer after the All-Star break.
