USC baseball took ‘leap of faith’ on Vandy transfer Gavin Casas. It’s working out
Gavin Casas was only a few weeks removed from knee surgery last summer when he took a chance and reached out to the South Carolina baseball coaching staff.
Once a big-name prospect in the high school circuit out of American Heritage in Florida, Casas all but disappeared in his two seasons at Vanderbilt, registering just 61 at-bats in his Commodores career before a knee injury ended his 2022 season as sophomore.
Sitting at home last summer, after entering the transfer portal in June, Casas wasn’t sure if he was on any team’s radar — especially after the injury. But something told him Mark Kingston’s South Carolina program was the right fit. So Casas reached out to USC to express his interest.
Luckily for him, the interest turned out to be mutual.
“It was a little bit of a leap of faith when you take a player that had been in another program and really didn’t have a whole lot of experience or success,” Kingston said. “But we did our homework, and we were just aware of his background and what he still might be able to do with a change of scenery. And we’re thrilled we added him.”
Kingston made those comments minutes after his No. 23 Gamecocks (11-1) sealed a series win over rival Clemson with a 7-1 Sunday blowout at Founders Park. Casas hit two home runs in the game — his team-leading sixth and seventh of the season.
The first homer came on a first-pitch fastball in the second inning. Casas waited on the pitch, then muscled it over the opposite-field fence, ending his swing with a majestic bat flip. The second was a two-run bomb to dead center field, the deepest part of the ballpark.
One of the key missions for the Gamecocks in a busy offseason was to add left-handed power to a lineup that sorely lacked it last year. So far, the 6-foot-4, 230-pound Casas has provided that thump, hitting more homers through 12 games with the Gamecocks than he did throughout his entire Vanderbilt career. He’s also batting a crisp .308 and has shown a discerning eye at the plate, leading the team in walks.
There’s no doubting Casas’ power. The first baseman is an imposing, physical force at the plate, whom Clemson pitched around the first two games of the series. It likely helps that Casas has athletic bloodlines, something that attracted the Gamecocks to him out of the transfer portal. His older brother, Triston Casas, was a first-round draft pick in 2018 by the Boston Red Sox and projects to play a key role for the big league club this season.
The elder Casas is a left-handed power-hitting first baseman just like Gavin, but Triston has drawn headlines for his unique personality, too — from showing up to spring training with painted nails to tweeting about catching lizards.
In contrast, USC’s Casas is a bit more reserved. He lets his powerful swings — and bat flips — do the talking.
“My brother is definitely a character,” Gavin Casas said. “I would say we’re each our own person, and I’m maybe a little different from him and the way I go about things. But ultimately we’re focused on the same goal.”
Gavin’s goal is to show he was more than the part-time player he was for Vandy, to show he’s more than the younger brother of a big-leaguer.
“I’m just grateful for the opportunity, honestly,” Casas said after his two-homer game. “I had a rough go of it in Nashville. But (USC) definitely took a leap of faith.
“I was I think three weeks out of knee surgery, so nobody really had any idea of my status. But I knew the type of player I was, and I knew that I could impact this program positively.”
So far, so good.
Next four USC baseball games
Tuesday: vs. The Citadel, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Wednesday: at USC Upstate, 6:30 p.m., Fluor Field in Greenville (ESPN Plus)
Friday: vs. Bethune-Cookman, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Saturday: vs. Bethune-Cookman, 4 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published March 6, 2023 at 7:50 AM.
