'Seen that more than once': Red Sox top prospect Triston Casas shining for USA Baseball — again

TOKYO — Scrolling through Twitter, Andy Stankiewicz saw a home-run highlight he could have sworn he'd seen from the dugout four years earlier.

Except this big fly to left-center from that smooth left-handed swing occurred only hours prior.

The Tokyo Olympics isn't the first time Triston Casas has carried a U.S. baseball team's offense during an international competition.

Stankiewicz, a former Major League Baseball infielder who is now the head coach at Grand Canyon University, had managed the top-ranked Boston Red Sox prospect on the 2017 U-18 World Cup team that took gold in Thunder Bay, Canada. Casas, now 21, was named MVP of that tournament after leading the field with home runs (three) and RBI (13).

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The Florida native has been powering up in his first Games, too, with two home runs in back-to-back games against South Korea and Japan. His three-run shot against Japan on Monday gave the U.S. a 6-3 lead the Americans eventually coughed up, but the opposite-field power was instantly recognizable to Stankiewicz.

“I was like, ‘OK, that’s Triston,’” Stankiewicz told USA TODAY Sports by phone.

Stankiewicz texted Matt Blood, formerly the U-18 team director and now director of player development of the Baltimore Orioles, and members of that coaching staff.

"Because he did that same thing against Japan in the World Cup. He took a fastball - I believe middle-up-away - didn’t try to pull it, hit a big home run to left-center," he said. "We were chuckling, we were like ‘Oh jeez, Japan didn’t learn their lesson.’ So there it was again."

Casas kept the hot bat going against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, sparking the U.S. offense with a two-run dinger to dead center off fellow Red Sox prospect and Class AA Portland Sea Dogs teammate Denyi Reyes.

"When I get into that mode, just really focusing on doing anything to win, I feel like those are when I have some of my best at-bats," Casas said.

During the U-18 World Cup, he wasn’t worried about stats and produced anyway.

"You definitely want to rise up to the occasion," he said.

The U.S. baseball brass quickly realized the strength Casas carried in his 6-foot-4 frame.

"From the first time we saw him play," Stankiewicz said, "it was like, ‘OK, this is different.’

“Even back then, he was a high-schooler, it was amazing to see. Most young men at that age, they only think about one thing, pulling the ball in the air as far as they can. Triston, that really wasn’t his game.”

The first baseman was committed to using all parts of the field. He was also more athletic and a better defender than his size would dictate. Stankiewicz saw his desire to be a complete player.

"He’s just advanced for that age," he said.

Having worn "USA" on his chest before likely played a role in his selection for the Olympic roster. International competition presents a different challenge, with a style of pitching players in the U.S. are accustomed to seeing at any level, whether it be high school or the majors.

The bigger the moment, the better the pitcher, the more locked in Casas becomes, Stankiewicz said.

“Seeing his success in the international stage in the Olympics, I think those that have been around him – obviously a fantastic accomplishment, I don’t want to minimize what he’s done – but those people who have been around him have seen that more than once,” he said.

Hitting cleanup for all three games of the tournament in manager Mike Scioscia's lineup, Casas has produced a RBI in all three games. During the opener against Israel, he plated the final run in a 8-1 victory with a single through the right side. With the U.S. down 1-0 in the fourth against South Korea, the No. 29 overall prospect (per MLBPipeline) golfed a two-run homer to give his team a lead it would not relinquish.

"In affiliated ball, sometimes you can get out of that (winning) mindset," Casas said. "But when I step into the box and or when I step onto the field, all I’m thinking is, ‘How can I help our team win?’ At the end of the tournament, nobody’s going to care, really, how many home runs I hit or how many runs I drive in, it’s just whether we came home with that gold."

After Japan jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Monday, Casas worked a one-out walk against ex-New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and scored on Todd Frazier's double into the left-center gap. The next inning came his three-run blast and he also drilled a double the other way in the seventh.

In 46 games for the Sea Dogs, Casas is batting .271 with a .354 on-base percentage with six homers and 30 RBI. He also recognized Boston's willingness to allow him to participate in the Games.

"They know how much it meant to me to want to be on this team," Casas said. "I think they’ve been really open to wanting me to play at this high level. All kudos to them to letting me play at this high level, they could have held me back in Double-A."

Hitting aside, what impressed Stankiewicz during his time with Casas was his commitment to defense.

"This guy’s not just a hitter," he said. "He wants to be a complete baseball player. He’s working at his defense as much as he’s working on his offense."

That showed on the final play of the U.S. victory over South Korea. Nick Lopez made a diving stop down the third-base line and fired quickly, short-hopping the throw. Casas picked the difficult bounce, on a playing surface of both turf and dirt, with ease.

Stankiewicz doesn’t know him Casas well, given they only spent a few weeks together on a team loaded with first-round talent. (Casas himself was taken 26th overall by Boston in 2018.) But the professionalism he displayed in the batter’s box and the game in general stood out. The American Heritage, a southern Florida high school powerhouse, product was focused and routine-oriented at 16 and 17, another sign to Stankiewicz he wouldn’t bust.

“It was a whole different look than most teenage ballplayers,” the coach said.

The prognosis was clear.

"This kid’s going to play the game for a long time," Stankiewicz said.

Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tokyo Olympics: Red Sox prospect Triston Casas shines for USA Baseball