Red Sox top catching prospect Blake Swihart
Today it has been announced that Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez will miss time due to Fridays MRI results. To what extent Vazquez is injured or how long he will be on the shelf is still unclear. Red Sox Manager John Farrell did speak today and said this:
“There’s some findings in the MRI,” “To what extent, that’s not being determined right now. There’s likely going to be a second opinion. So, we’re still in a little bit of a fact-finding mode right now. What that means going forward is … there’s no clear-cut plan going forward yet. Hopefully, through the coming days, we would have some more definitive information and then a follow-up plan after that.”
Career Back up catcher and Massachusetts native Ryan Hanigan will in all likelihood be named the starting catcher for opening day and get the majority of starts while Vazquez is on the DL, but the back up catcher position is now up for grabs.
In my humble opinion the decision on who will be the Sox back up catcher should be an easy one. I give you Blake Swihart. The 22 year old switch hitting back-stop is the number one prospect in the Red Sox system and the 17th ranked in all of baseball.
Swihart is a switch hitter, has plus power, and many say his defense is much better than he is given credit for. The young Red Sox catcher has already been impressing many scouts drawing some early comparisons to Joe Mauer and Buster Posey.
Swihart has been a success at every level at the Red Sox minor league level and this spring he has not disappointed. To date Swihart's spring training stats in 11 games played: .333 AVG/ .385 OBP/ 8 hits/ 1 double/ 1 home run/ 5 runs/ 1 BB/ 5 RBI. During this 2015 Red Sox spring training Swihart has shown he is a more than capable big league catcher right now at this point in his young career.
Bringing Swihart up now to back up Hanigan will be the perfect chance to introduce the young catcher to the big leagues in a relatively low pressure situation as a back up. In my eyes Blake Swihart will be the Red Sox Catcher of the future so while he looks like he's ready and there is a clear need of his services he should be on the 2015 opening day roster.
Today it has been announced that Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez will miss time due to Fridays MRI results. To what extent Vazquez is injured or how long he will be on the shelf is still unclear. Red Sox Manager John Farrell did speak today and said this:
“There’s some findings in the MRI,” “To what extent, that’s not being determined right now. There’s likely going to be a second opinion. So, we’re still in a little bit of a fact-finding mode right now. What that means going forward is … there’s no clear-cut plan going forward yet. Hopefully, through the coming days, we would have some more definitive information and then a follow-up plan after that.”
Career Back up catcher and Massachusetts native Ryan Hanigan will in all likelihood be named the starting catcher for opening day and get the majority of starts while Vazquez is on the DL, but the back up catcher position is now up for grabs.
In my humble opinion the decision on who will be the Sox back up catcher should be an easy one. I give you Blake Swihart. The 22 year old switch hitting back-stop is the number one prospect in the Red Sox system and the 17th ranked in all of baseball.
Swihart is a switch hitter, has plus power, and many say his defense is much better than he is given credit for. The young Red Sox catcher has already been impressing many scouts drawing some early comparisons to Joe Mauer and Buster Posey.
Swihart has been a success at every level at the Red Sox minor league level and this spring he has not disappointed. To date Swihart's spring training stats in 11 games played: .333 AVG/ .385 OBP/ 8 hits/ 1 double/ 1 home run/ 5 runs/ 1 BB/ 5 RBI. During this 2015 Red Sox spring training Swihart has shown he is a more than capable big league catcher right now at this point in his young career.
Bringing Swihart up now to back up Hanigan will be the perfect chance to introduce the young catcher to the big leagues in a relatively low pressure situation as a back up. In my eyes Blake Swihart will be the Red Sox Catcher of the future so while he looks like he's ready and there is a clear need of his services he should be on the 2015 opening day roster.
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