The Boston Red Sox catching conundrum

The Boston Red Sox have started slow and the pitching has been a disappointment, but what about the catching?

The Boston Red Sox and their farm club in Triple-A – the Pawtucket Red Sox – have something in common and it is not the type of commonality that encourages a comfort zone. Both have had as many bumps in the early games as riding a Yugo with no shock absorbers over a pot hole infested road.

Since Red Sox Nation has been panic stricken over just a bad inning a few bad games are similar to tossing a bloody fish into a pool of sharks. What is particularly disturbing is the lack of pitching from the rotation. Is that a surprise?

David Price is no surprise based on his career first monthly statistics that show a career 3.94 ERA for the first month of the season – the most dismal of all months for Price and totally acceptable for 90% of starters in either league. The body of career work shows no worries despite actually being “battered” for five runs the other night.

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The troublesome rotation goes deeper as enigmatic Clay Buchholz is now in a groove tossing back-to-back duds. Rick Porcello and Joe Kelly have had visions among the denizens of RSN of a return to 2015 first half form. Steven Wright will stay as long as Eduardo Rodriguez – a traumatic loss – remains on the sidelines. Wright could also remain as others falter.

Now that the first vestiges of the new season have surfaced the real reality is to put panic on hold and restore patience. Give the pitchers a fair amount of time as in five or six starts. The bullpen – despite a Craig Kimbrel epic meltdown – appears to be competent. So I remain cautiously optimistic for the first six weeks.

The real item of interest for pitching will be at Pawtucket where the PawSox have done little to show they will be a force in the International League. The redeeming feature is Henry Owens, who was 4-4 in Boston last season with a hot and cold string of performances. The other hope is Roenis Elias, who went 3.2 innings and was pounded in his first start. Keep a statistical eye on Owens who may be in the rotation about the same time as E-Rod.

The disappointment I see in the early going is the defense of Blake Swihart. Swihart is relatively new to the catching gig and it shows. Scouting reports usually mention his improvement so I can imagine how bad it must have been. The undertones are surfacing regarding his game-calling skills and his footwork behind the plate and there is some consistent credence to it.

Admittedly I give special props to catchers with superior defensive skills. I would certainly sacrifice offense for defense – the Jim Hegan syndrome.

The Swihart issue is minuscule as the Red Sox have Christian Vazquez now performing offensively as he does defensively at Pawtucket in the very early going. This is a defensive no brainer as the simple fact is pitchers need a comfort zone for their fragile psyche and that means Ryan Hanigan or Vazquez.

I would look at catching as the need apparent unless the Red Sox wish to let Swihart grow into the position. But pitcher and catcher have historically enjoyed a symbiotic relationship that is missing – apparently – in the Swihart catching equation.

Swihart is rich in talent and should not necessarily be consigned to just catcher as the end all and be all. The bat is smooth and catching is not abysmal but it is certainly not even close to the rarefied atmosphere of Hanigan and Vazquez.

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Swihart is certainly capable of other position or catching on a limited basis. That would probably result in a bit more seasoning at Pawtucket or using his high value in trade.

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