What to do about the Red Sox catching situation
Apr 21, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox catcher
Ryan Hanigan(10) at bat against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Red Sox catching situation has been in flux since before the season even started.
The Red Sox entered spring training with the formidable defensive duo of young defensive wiz Christian Vazquez and sturdy veteran Ryan Hanigan. However, their plans to start Vazquez in his first full major league season were derailed when he felt discomfort in his throwing elbow in a spring training game. That discomfort led to season-ending Tommy John surgery and forced the Red Sox to make the last-minute acquisition of Sandy Leon to serve as the team’s backup catcher.
Hanigan and Leon worked together with decent success for the first month of the season, with Hanigan providing acceptable production despite never really holding down a starting gig over a full season. But of course, their plans were sidetracked once more when a foul tip broke Hanigan’s knuckle in early May. That led to the Red Sox promoting top prospect Blake Swihart to the majors to give the talented youngster his first taste of major league ball.
Swihart didn’t quite begin his major league career in stride, slashing a meager .225/.257/.268 in May. And though he didn’t make a total turnaround in June, he hit a much-improved .258/.303/.387 and is now appearing to be a legitimate major leaguer, even hitting a downright impressive .298/.353/.383 in his last 15 games.
Hanigan’s stint on the DL is over now and he returned to the lineup last night, going 0-4 with a run scored. As of right now, the Red Sox have three catchers on their 25-man roster, but that’s not a permanent solution and they’ll have to make a decision soon on whether the correct move is to option Swihart to Pawtucket despite his progress in June, allowing him to play everyday, or designate Leon for assignment and give Swihart a slightly reduced role on the Red Sox.
Let’s explore the options!
Jun 25, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart (23) hits an RBI single during the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
Choice A: Option Swihart to Pawtucket, roll with Hanigan and Leon.
Given Swihart’s struggles in May, it’s clear that he was rushed to the major leagues (which we pretty much knew at the time anyway). Sure, Swihart hit .338/.392/.382 with the PawSox, tearing the International League apart in 18 games. However, most prospect evaluators suggest that it’s a good idea to let a talented player struggle and then adjust and rebound from those struggles before promoting them. Swihart clearly didn’t learn everything that he could in Triple-A and it showed in his first taste of the majors.
But on the flip side, what Swihart didn’t learn in Pawtucket this season, he’s likely learned in Boston by now. He has steadily improved as the season has gone along and is currently playing about as well as one could expect from a 23-year old, switch-hitting catcher in his first season.
In a perfect world, the Red Sox could continue to play Swihart nearly everyday in the majors to let him soak up all of the knowledge that should help him become an elite catcher in the future. However, that’s simply not possible with Hanigan returning. Hanigan has served as a backup catcher in the past and it’s not out of the question for him to play that role this season (it’s what the Red Sox brought him in to do after all), but he’s a high-end backup and will command much more playing time than Leon.
Some would argue that this could stunt Swihart’s development and that it would be better to option him to Pawtucket, where he can play as much as physically possible. Swihart can get a bit more experience and polish off his skill set with the PawSox and he’ll likely come back better for it. Another benefit of this option is that it would allow the Red Sox to preserve depth by keeping Leon around rather than exposing him to waivers.
Apr 23, 2015; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon (3) at bat against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Choice B: DFA Leon, roll with Swihart and Hanigan.
This would be the win-now, throw all caution to the wind move. Leon was never expected to be more than a backup catcher by the Red Sox and they were forced to scoop him up after the Vazquez injury for nothing but cash considerations, but it’s getting hard to ignore how absolutely terrible he’s been at the plate. Through 31 games this season, Leon has been nearly an automatic out, slashing .146/.222/.159 and has merited just -0.4 WAR according to Fangraphs.
Sure, he’s an above-average defensive catcher, but he’s unlikely to ever be more than a backup (and not even a very good one at that). Even if the Red Sox designate him for assignment and expose him to waivers, there’s a non-zero chance that he clears waivers and that the Red Sox will be able to place him in Pawtucket.
Still, there are also some clear downsides to designating Leon. While there is a chance he clears waivers, there’s also a decent chance that he doesn’t– good defensive catchers don’t grow on trees and there could be teams willing to give him a roster spot. That’s not immediately bad for the Red Sox, but it leaves the team with very little catching depth in the upper minors in the event of an injury to Hanigan or Swihart, which could lead to another rushed acquisition from the waiver wire.
In addition, this would lead to a timeshare between Swihart and Hanigan, which might not be how the Red Sox plan to use their young catcher in his rookie season. Still, both Swihart and Hanigan are considerably better than Leon and, barring an injury, this choice absolutely gives the Red Sox the best chance to win on any given night.
May 28, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart (23) singles in the fifth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Boston won 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
The verdict: DFA Leon, roll with Swihart and Hanigan.
The Red Sox haven’t been a good team this season and they are still in last place, but one can’t look around the fact that Boston is still just six games out of first place. That is a gap that the Red Sox could easily close with an extended hot streak and, with the team playing well right now, it makes sense to roll with their best catching duo.
For the sake of his development, Swihart should still serve as Boston’s starting catcher (even though Hanigan might well be the better player at this point in their respective careers). However, rather than the roughly 80-20 playing time split between Swihart and Leon, that timeshare could level out closer to 70-30 or even 60-40 with Hanigan as a backup.
If either Swihart or Hanigan goes down with another injury, the Red Sox would be forced to make a rushed acquisition much as they did with Leon back in March (assuming Leon is snatched up by another team). However, it’s not crazy to think that the Red Sox could acquire a catcher of similar quality to Leon through this method, so there might be nothing to worry about in that regard.
With the trade deadline less than a month away, the Red Sox need to make a run soon to determine whether they’ll be buyers. Part of the equation is the catching situation and the Red Sox need to go with their best two players at the position to give the team the best chance of winning. That means cutting ties with Leon and rolling with Swihart and Hanigan in a 60-40 split for the rest of the season.
How do you think the Red Sox should handle their current catching situation? Do you agree with me? Let us know in this poll and the comment section.