Casas jumps into player pool for Red Sox

August may be nearing its end, but the Red Sox are still inviting young talent into their roster pool.

Second-ranked Boston prospect Triston Casas joined the club's other players at the team's alternate training site at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, the team said Thursday.

"There are so many things to factor in to how we manage our 60-man pool -- balancing the needs of the organization with what's best for each individual player, all while allowing for injuries, roster moves, trades and so much else," Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom told reporters. "Triston has a chance to be a special player and we are happy that he should get more than half the season with his teammates and our staff in Pawtucket."

The Red Sox now have both of their slugging corner infield prospects in the player pool, as Casas joined third-ranked Bobby Dalbec at the alternate site camp.

A 2018 first-round pick, Casas emerged in 2019 as one of the biggest power threats in Boston's system. Graded with a 60 power tool by MLB.com, the Florida native joined Class A Greenville and mashed 19 homers in his first full season after logging only two games in Rookie ball in 2018.

After a slow start in April, Casas hit .254/.349/.472 with 49 total extra bases with the Drive, earning midseason and postseason All-Star honors in the South Atlantic League before claiming a spot on the Red Sox MiLB.com Organization All-Star team. Before the season ended, though, MLB.com's No. 83 overall prospect got a little bit of action in the Carolina League, homering and doubling among three hits in two games with Salem. Overall between the two levels, he mashed 20 long balls, collected 81 RBIs and amassed an .830 OPS.

Defensively, he spent the bulk of his time at first base (96 games), but also toiled in eight contests at third for Greenville.

"He was a plus defender at first for us," Red Sox vice president of player development Ben Crockett told MiLB.com in October. "He did play some third base, but he got that good chunk of time at first base. We can see the significant upside to him playing there and, ultimately, we felt like that was going to get him the best chance to play every day and make the biggest impact."

The 20-year-old only had two at-bats in big league Spring Training over the past two years and seems unlikely to don a Red Sox uniform at Fenway Park this season having not taken any cuts yet above the A Advanced level.