The BoSox Injection staff reflects on the 2016 season by grading each member of the Boston Red Sox based on expectations for them entering the season.
Going into this season, one can’t say that Sandy Leon was even in the mix for the Boston Red Sox at catcher, at all. By the end of it, he was the first stringer. How did this happen?
Emergency Catcher
Usually this term applies to a player who never catches, then has to fill in unexpectedly. In this case, it means Leon was acquired when they had an emergency at the position in 2015. Only the most hardcore baseball fan would have known who Leon was. When Christian Vazquez was diagnosed with a torn ACL in March of 2015, the Red Sox sent cash to the Washington Nationals to acquire Leon. Up to that point, Leon’s career had been as a decent back up, good defense but little offense. In 107 plate appearances for the Nationals, Leon’s OPS was just .533 with one homer and five RBI over parts of three seasons.
The remainder of 2015 was more of the same for Leon. He was a decent defensive backup but still little of a threat offensively. Leon’s defensive WAR was a decent 0.7 but his offensive still was terrible, a .433 OPS over 128 plate appearances. His offensive WAR for 2015 was a -0.3. His career WAR stood at 0.1. On July 20, 2015 he was designated for assignment. Any team could have claimed him, but none did and he was outrighted to Pawtucket on July 30, until his recall on September 1 to the major league club. On November 6, he was outrighted off the 40 man roster again meaning any team could have had him again, but he remained a free agent.
Seizing Opportunity
In January of 2016, Leon was invited to Spring Training as a Red Sox non-roster invitee. At that point he was fourth on the depth chart. Incumbent Ryan Hanigan was back as well as Vazquez. Blake Swihart was also in the mix after a decent season his first year. Leon did not make the club out of Spring Training. The Red Sox kept him around for insurance since Vazquez was coming back from injury and Swihart was sent down to the minors to become an outfielder.
When Swihart suffered a season ending ankle injury in early June, the Red Sox decided to give Leon another try. Vazquez went down to the minors since he wasn’t hitting. Hanigan wasn’t hitting either but was out of options. The Red Sox had little to lose bringing Leon up. They could give Vazquez a break, not expecting Leon to hit at all. They gave Leon a lucrative, by minor league standards, $273,000 contract to stay in the organization.
The team was impressed how hard Leon worked to improve in his native Venezuela (his manager was ex-major leaguer Carlos Guillen). In the offseason, the Red Sox even allowed him to return in Spring Training in February to play for his country’s championship
Leon became the most surprising story of the season, starting ten for 16 and hitting as he had never hit before over his first two and a half months with the major league team. Something seemed to click in with Leon, which batting coach Chili Davis and Guillen attributed to
a more upright stance. Through 100 plate appearances by the end of July, he was hitting .391. On August 22nd he was still hitting .386 but then seemed to hit a wall. Perhaps it was the playing time he had earned with his scorching hot hitting; however, by September 1, he was down to .350. In September, he was back like the Sandy of before, posting just a .213/.283/.253 batting line for the remainder of the season. He either wore down or just lost some of that confidence he had during his incredible hot streak. He started all three playoff games, notching just a walk and one hit, a solo home run, in 11 plate appearances.
All the while he was still providing good defense. He posted his career average .994 fielding percentage while throwing out 41 percent of baserunners attempting to steal (league average was 29%), fourth best in the majors. Leon was actually even better in 2015, throwing out 50 percent that year.
Grade: A+
Next: Red Sox Pablo Sandoval justifies fear of long-term contracts
What’s Next?
While a .310/.369/.476 batting line isn’t indicative of how he hit for the majority of the season, it was a great season for Leon. One can’t expect another season like Leon had in 2016 because he isn’t going to sneak up on anyone anymore after such success. He is under three more years of team control which gives time for Vazquez to re-gain his confidence at the minor league level. It is likely the Red Sox won’t bring back Hanigan, who has an option for 2017. Considering Vazquez is only 17 months younger than Leon, perhaps Sandy is now their catcher of the future.
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