An infamous quote about baseball attributed commonly to the Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra is as follows: "Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical." Triston Casas's injury recovery has become a very direct embodiment of that confusing quote.
The Boston Red Sox first baseman has not played a game since April 20 due to a fractured rib. But rest assured, he's getting swings up to get back ready for the plate. Sort of, anyway.
Casas recently told reporters he was taking "dry swings," but then had an interesting back-and-forth with reporters on what those swings actually entailed. Evidently, the swings involved no movement. Rather, they were a merely meditated version of swings in his head, visualizations of what it will be like to be back at the plate.
According to Mac Cerullo, here's how the hilarious exchange went:
Julian McWilliams: You've been taking dry swings before, right?
Triston Casas: Yeah, with no bat.
Julian: With no bat?
Triston: Yeah. I've been taking swings for 10 weeks.
Jen: So what does that entail? Swinging with just your hands?
Triston: Oh, no, just in my mind. Without a bat, just in my head. I've taken thousands of at bats in this time, so I feel great, I feel ready.
Jen: So you'd just be kind of like standing, or-
Triston: Or sitting, or laying. Yeah.
Mac Cerullo: Does the process involve twisting at all or are you kind of just stationary?
Triston: Oh no, no twisting. Yeah, no I wasn't able to do that. But I was able to swing.
While it may sound funny, Casas has always been an above-average hitter, and was slashing .244/.513/.857 this year before his injury. Perhaps we should not question his methods?
Others around the league have experienced strong results with fewer swings, too. Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who hit his league-leading 30th home run of the season on Wednesday night against the Mets, has admitted to taking fewer batting practice repetitions to keep himself healthier this year as he transitions to center field full-time.
