After Blake Swihart showed some success in the outfield last season for the Boston Red Sox, can he win back his position next year?
After a disappointing end to a great 2016 season, it’s time for the Boston Red Sox to move on and think about what’s to come for 2017.
As we all can remember, the Red Sox offense was on pace to be one of the best ever in the beginning of the season. The core of young studs that is Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Travis Shaw, and Blake Swihart really began to solidify themselves as everyday players for the Sox.
For Swihart specifically, he realized that his calling for the Major Leagues wasn’t behind the plate calling games. In the beginning of the season when he was the starting catcher, there were way too many passed balls and it didn’t seem like pitchers worked well with him.
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That’s when the coaching staff decided to transform him into an outfielder after a series of injuries in the outfield depth chart accumulated. That decision by manager John Farrell turned into a pretty smart one.
When Swihart returned to the Sox after a month long stint in AAA he was an instant spark. Not just offensively, but defensively as well, which was surprising to some people since it was a brand new position for him.
But when Swihart was really beginning to heat up, he went down with a season-ending ankle injury in the beginning of June. When he hit the 60-day DL, he watched another young buck by the name of Andrew Benintendi take his starting job.
Which now leads us to this question, where will Blake Swihart play in 2017?
We are only a few days into the offseason for the Red Sox and there are already rumors that Bradley could be getting traded for a starting pitcher.
If those rumors end up being true, it would make most sense to have your starting outfield now be Swihart, Betts (moving back to centerfield), and Benintendi, right?
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I personally think that would be the best option for the Red Sox if you’re speaking on an offensive stand point.
In the first two months of the season, Bradley was one of the hottest hitters in baseball, where he once had a slash of .341/.410/.605. But when the regular season came to a close, he finished with a slash of .267/.349/.486.
Yes, Bradley was a starting All-Star last year but his numbers dropped dramatically in the second half of the season, which is the worst timing to get into a slump if you’re making a postseason run.
I strongly believe that Blake Swihart should be a starting outfielder come Opening Day next April. He already surprised people with how he played defensively, so imagine how he will preform after months of working on the outfield position during the winter.
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Trust me, we have many more issues to address during the offseason and if trading away Jackie Bradley Jr. solves one of these issues, I think the Sox should consider it.