Blake Swihart has gotten off to a blazing start in spring training, which begs the question: What will the Red Sox do with him this year?
Every year out of spring training, there are a few players who make a big impact on the team, and end up making the opening day roster. This year, it very well could be Blake Swihart who makes that leap for the Boston Red Sox. But believe me when I say this: He will have earned that spot more than anybody else.
Boston is not making it easy on Swihart. They have already tried him out at a couple different positions, just to give him a shot at making the team in the past. He has tried his natural catchers position, but also tried out in left field, which didn’t end very well.
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But in 2018, a time in baseball where offensive catchers are a premium, Swihart is making a case for himself.
This could very well be another massive spring training overreaction, but there’s evidence that it is not. Sure, if you look at his spring training numbers so far, they are impressive. He is hitting .556 so far with a 1.859 OPS. He has one homer and five RBI’s so far.
Of all the players that have played so far for Boston, nobody has been better than Swihart at the dish.
But the importance of Swihart does not come just from him, but also what the other catchers lack.
2017 was a miserable year for Sandy Leon. After a very good 2016 in limited plate appearances, he slashed .225/.290/.354 in 2017. If it weren’t for being Chris Sale‘s personal catcher, Leon may have lost his job completely to Christian Vazquez.
Now, it’s unlikely that the Red Sox will carry three catchers all season. It’s very rare for teams to do that all year. But with the way that Swihart has hit this spring, it would be a mistake to not give him a chance.
Alex Cora has recently said that Leon and Vazquez are his catchers right now. But early on in camp, Vazquez has been catching Sale in the bullpen sessions. That could be signaling that Vazquez has surpassed Leon on the depth chart for good.
The plus side for Leon is that pitchers rave about his receiving ability. They say he catches a great game. But the fact that his bat is not up to par hurts the Red Sox.
Would they sacrifice his receiving for a better bat, but a less polished defensive catcher in Swihart?
Cora will have to decide in the coming weeks. But here is one thing we know for sure: If Blake Swihart continues his hot start, he will be playing with the big league squad on opening day in Tampa Bay this year.
Related Story: Predictions for Spring Training roster battles
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