Jason Varitek possibly umpiring a Red Sox intrasquad scrimmage.
Jason Varitek might be returning to a familiar position behind the plate this afternoon. No, the long-time Boston Red Sox catcher isn’t joining the depth chart at the catcher position but the team has considered using him as an umpire for their first intrasquad scrimmage.
The Red Sox are taking the next step toward preparing for the regular season by scheduling their first live game action of Summer Camp on Thursday afternoon beginning at 2:00 p.m.
They won’t have an actual umpire crew on hand at Fenway Park to call the game but manager Ron Roenicke hinted that a certain Red Sox Hall of Fame catcher may be tasked with calling balls and strikes.
"“We’ll try to keep it as game-like as we can. Don’t be surprised if you see (Jason) Varitek behind the plate umpiring. That’s a possibility,” Roenicke said, per NESN. “Any time we can get the closest to game condition, we’ll do.”"
Varitek has been an asset to the Red Sox in camp by sharing his vast knowledge of the game. The organization has been grooming him for a coaching career and there were some clamoring for him to be named as the new manager before the job ultimately was given to Roenicke. Varitek’s mastery of the strike zone makes him an ideal choice to serve as the umpire for these scrimmages.
Nathan Eovaldi is expected to start opposite Chris Mazza in today’s scrimmage. Roenicke indicated that the game would only last 5 1/2 innings. Eovaldi will pitch four or five innings while Mazza will probably only work two.
We’ve already seen Eovaldi dialing up the velocity since training camp restarted last week. If he can maintain that upper-90s heat while remaining sharp through five innings, he’ll be fairly close to being ready for the season.
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Eovaldi will get a few more tuneups before the regular season begins but he seems to be the furthest along among the starting pitchers and he’s the leading candidate to start on Opening Day if Eduardo Rodriguez hasn’t recovered from COVID-19 in time to build up his arm strength.
The Red Sox plan to hold scrimmages over the next few days with the start time gradually moving back into the evening in order to replicate regular-season game conditions.
It’s unclear if the team will be able to coordinate exhibition games against other clubs prior to Opening Day on July 24. MLB will want to limit travel as much as possible so if they do allow exhibition games then Boston will likely be limited to facing teams in their region, which could include the two New York teams, Philadelphia, and perhaps Baltimore.
In the meantime, the Red Sox will have to settle for facing themselves. This training camp is anything but ordinary but if one of the perks is that Varitek gets to test his umpiring skills, we’ll take it for the bit of nostalgia that comes with getting him back behind the plate.