Blake Swihart: Catcher/Outfielder
If you had asked me at the end of last season would be catching for the Red Sox in 2017 I would have told you Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not that big of a Sandy Leon fan, and I honestly thought that he was going to be DFA’d at least by July.
Thrust into a starting role in 2015, the then 23-year-old put up a serviceable .274/.319/.392 line with 5 HRs in 84 games. Going into that season, the switch hitting catcher was ranked the #17 overall prospect in all of baseball.
Fast forward to 2017 and he’s spent the entire season in the minors and has a batting average of .183. Some of that can be linked to the various injuries he’s been dealing with, but something is not right with him this season. Ever since he injured his ankle playing out of position in left field last year, the young player hasn’t been the same. However, Blake is showing us that he can still swing it, and I think everyone in the organization wants him to succeed.
https://twitter.com/PawSox/status/898924644589334528
He hasn’t faced major league pitching in over a year, and this is his chance to remind everyone of the player he can be when he’s healthy. Fortunately for him, there aren’t really any other options for the organization, so look for Blake to be in Boston to take on a role as the third catcher.
At the very worst, this is a chance to show him off as potential trade bait for next season. But at its best, maybe we see a return to form for the young catcher. I still think he can overtake Leon next year and has too much value to be moved from the backstop.