Christian Vazquez has suffered a broken right pinky finger and will need surgery, and the timeline for recovery from that is roughly six-to-eight weeks. With him out of the game, Sandy Leon will take the lion’s share of starts behind home plate, which leaves the position of backup catcher to the seldom-used Blake Swihart. For Swihart to actually see somewhat consistent time behind home plate — time that doesn’t involve him as a late-game replacement or as someone to catch warm-up pitches while either Vazquez or Leon gets their pads on — is actually surprising. From the beginning of the season, it was tough to visualize Swihart getting triple-digit innings actually, y’know, catching for a pitcher.

While this is something of a testament to the depth the Red Sox have, they really shouldn’t be getting much credit for it. If the Red Sox actually saw Swihart as a catcher first, they would’ve realized the redundancy of holding three catchers a long time before now. Instead, he’s been tried out at the corner infield positions and still run him out for a handful of innings in left field — a move that evokes flashbacks to how his 2016 season ended. So it would be stretching the truth to say the Red Sox saw him as a catcher first and not (however optimistically) a utility player coming off the bench. Swihart’s been taking up the 24th spot on the roster because the Red Sox ran out of options for him, and feel that he’s too valuable to let go, especially when his value is as low as it is. In that regard, they’re correct.

But the idea that the Red Sox kept Swihart as preparation for a Vazquez or Leon injury is naïve at best, and blind loyalty at worst. Third-string catchers can be had for a bucket of baseballs, and hell, Dan Butler is still on Pawtucket’s roster. He’d work just fine as a backup to the backup. Swihart’s there because the Red Sox thought his talent was too good to let go, not because the catcher tandem they had was somehow injury-prone. Catchers get nicked and dinged all year long, but outside of needing Tommy John surgery a few years ago, Vazquez wasn’t ever bitten by an injury bug until now. It’s simply bad luck for Vazquez, and a renewed chance to catch for Swihart. These things simply happen. But that’s enough fiery distrust of the Red Sox for one article.

Now we get to see what Blake Swihart is like when he actually plays catcher consistently, and quite frankly, this has been something long overdue from the former top prospect. Maybe there’s some post-post-sleeper hype in here, or maybe the talent doesn’t translate to productive skill. He’s got two months to show it, at the very least.

If we look at offensive production from the catcher position, the needle doesn’t really change much with Leon and Swihart. Neither Vazquez nor Swihart were offensive juggernauts, and the Red Sox were getting a combined .600 OPS from the position, good for 26th in the league. The bar’s set pretty low, all things considered. Going by history, Swihart’s supposedly a better hitter than Vazquez, so there’s a chance we could see a spark there. But that history is sourced from the last time he’s played a full season — over four years ago. Since 2015, Swihart’s had only 930 plate appearances in professional baseball. Outside of the second half of 2015, he’s had neither health nor consistency of playing time since then. I guess what I’m saying is that he’s one hell of a wild card when it comes to what he’ll do at the plate. He’s probably going to be mediocre, but I’m always here for a happy tale of an oft-injured player exceeding expectations and making it in big leagues. Expect little, but hope for a lot.

Defensively, well, things are a little more concrete there. Vazquez, as per usual, is an excellent defender, while Swihart has had issues with defending going back to his low minors days. He’s not a butcher, but calling him above average behind the plate is a little too optimistic for my tastes. Let’s just put this one down as “probably not going to be as good” and move on.

Look, you should be at least a little happy he’s going to get more time in the field at his original position, regardless of how or why he ended up in this situation. I’m definitely intrigued by it, and you should be too. He desperately needs the consistent playing time, and if that talent is still there, that might be all he needs. These next two months might just be Swihart’s only chance to stick with the Red Sox, and work his way back into their future plans, no matter how small or large that role might be.

Header photo courtesy of Troy Taormina — USA TODAY Sports

Presenting the full list 2017 Roster Recaps, listed with the authors that wrote them. An asterisk denotes a player who has, as of March 13th, dearly departed the Red Sox. We’ll miss them all terribly.

Catchers

• Sandy Leon (Cam Ellis)
• Blake Swihart (Jake Devereaux)
• Christian Vazquez (Brett Cowett)

Infielders

• Xander Bogaerts (Chris Teeter)
• Chase d’Arnaud* (Matt Kory)
• Rafael Devers (Kory)
• Marco Hernandez (Cowett)
• Brock Holt (Devereaux)
• Tzu-Wei Lin (Cowett)
• Deven Marrero (Cowett)
• Mitch Moreland (Cowett)
• Eduardo Nunez (Teeter)
• Dustin Pedroia (Kory)
• Hanley Ramirez (Devereaux)
• Josh Rutledge* (Cowett)
• Pablo Sandoval* (Cowett)
• Sam Travis (Teeter)

Outfielders

• Andrew Benintendi (Ellis)
• Mookie Betts (Kory)
• Jackie Bradley Jr. (Cowett)
• Rajai Davis* (Daniel Poarch)
• Steve Selsky (Ellis)
• Chris Young* (Cowett)

Pitchers

• Fernando Abad* (Ellis)
• Matt Barnes (Cowett)
• Blaine Boyer* (Cowett)
• Roenis Elias (Poarch)
• Doug Fister* (Kory)
• Heath Hembree (Kory)
• Brian Johnson (Teeter)
• Joe Kelly (Ellis)
• Kyle Kendrick* (Poarch)
• Craig Kimbrel (Cowett)
• Austin Maddox (Ellis)
• Kyle Martin (Poarch)
• Drew Pomeranz (Ellis)
• Rick Porcello (Teeter)
• David Price (Ellis)
• Noe Ramirez* (Poarch)
• Addison Reed* (Ellis)
• Eduardo Rodriguez (Cowett)
• Robbie Ross* (Cowett)
• Chris Sale (Cowett)
• Robby Scott (Cowett)
• Carson Smith (Teeter)
• Ben Taylor (Cowett)
• Hector Velazquez (Devereaux)
• Brandon Workman (Ellis)
• Steven Wright (Kory)

Header photo by Winslow Townson — USA TODAY Sports

Smart teams will trade any player if the return is right. You wouldn’t say Mookie Betts is available but if the Angels called and offered Mike Trout for Betts, you’d make that trade immediately. Swihart isn’t Trout and Swihart isn’t Betts either, so of course, listen to the offers. Swihart is 26 (has been for almost a week) and has played in just 116 games over the last two seasons due to injuries, with most of those coming in the minor leagues. He’s also out of options, meaning the team can’t send him to the minors without risking losing him for nothing to any team willing to snap him up. It seems, based on McAdam’s reporting, that there are many teams who would do just that. Swihart, then, will have to stay on the major league roster, or the Sox may as well deal him.

Depending on the return, perhaps they should. The roster is certainly set up to handle being Swihartless. Between Brock Holt and Deven Marrero, the entire infield and outfield are accounted for — not that Holt would play center or right field, but the team has three outfielders who could move around if someone was hurt, necessitating Brock Holt: Outfielder. Also, there’s Marco Hernandez, whose shoulder is still hurt but who should be back from the DL at some point. Probably. Maybe. We hope. When he does, he’s capable of playing all over the infield and hitting some as well. So what do the Red Sox need with a player like Swihart who offers more of the same?

Pardon me for getting all metaphysical and stuff on you, but maybe it’s not depth that the Red Sox should be searching for after all. The Red Sox possess perhaps the best and certainly the most versatile outfield in baseball. All three guys, Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley, and Mookie Betts, can play any outfield position, thank you very much. That means as long as two of them are healthy, all the Red Sox need is a left fielder, and they have that in J.D. Martinez. The numbers tell us Martinez is an atrocious outfielder, but he’s also relatively young and athletic, and has suffered from various injuries through the previous few seasons which could and likely did negatively impact his performance in the outfield, injuries which he’s since recovered from. But even if you can’t blame it on injuries and Martinez is that bad, if he’s that bad in the smallest outfield in baseball and only very occasionally then that’s fine.

In the infield, the Sox have two first basemen in Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland, Eduardo Nunez who can play second, short, or third, Xander Bogaerts who plays short but could play third if something catastrophic happened, and Rafael Devers who plays third so he can do catastrophic things to Yankee relief pitchers. Then there’s the aforementioned Marrero, Holt, and, eventually, Hernandez. But wait there’s more because when Dustin Pedroia comes back, that frees up Nunez to play all over the place as well.

Clearly the Red Sox have depth. They have depth for their depth. What I’m saying is their depth is deep. While they don’t lack in quality starters however, and they have all the deepest depth, the quality of that depth is questionable. Hernandez is out and will be out for a while with no return date yet known. Pedroia should be back in May, but maybe not, and as long as he’s out Nunez will be stapled to second base (hopefully not literally), limiting his ability to provide depth. Marrero’s hitting is the inverse of his fielding, and as his fielding is very good, that makes his hitting very bad. Holt was once the poor man’s Ben Zobrist, but that was three-to-five concussions ago. How comfortable would you be with Marrero playing 30 games at third base, or Holt playing 45 at second? Or both simultaneously? Probably not very comfortable, nor should you be because, while they’re probably super nice guys, neither is good enough to be starting.

What I’m saying is their depth is deep. While they don’t lack in quality starters however, and they have all the deepest depth, the quality of that depth is questionable.

The point is there are questions, perhaps too many questions to feel comfortable. Swihart is yet another question mark, but he’s a talented question mark, more talented than the rest of the group. Also, the Red Sox don’t have to hit on all their question marks. They only need one or two and they’ll have a very strong bench.

There’s two more reasons to hold on to Swihart, the most important of which is the utter lack of catching depth in the organization. The Sox don’t have a single catcher anywhere in their top 30 prospects and nothing playable in the upper minors. That means it’s Christian Vazquez and Sandy Leon all the way, all year long. If one of those guys gets hurt, then the replacement is likely going to be someone who doesn’t have any business playing in the majors. Swihart offers something more than replacement level behind the plate.

That brings us to the last reason to hold on to Swihart: upside. This is the main argument often cited by Swihart fans. He was a top prospect as recently as April of 2015, when Sox Prospects had him ranked above Yoan Moncada, Manuel Margot, Rafael Devers, and Michael Kopech. He’s potentially an above average hitter, not just for a catcher but for the major leagues. He offers a bit of everything: power, speed, and average. It’s an enticing package.

He’s not 22 anymore though. He might yet attain what the prospect writers hoped for him, though his spring training heroics aren’t as much the biggest sign of that as the fact that his name can be penciled into the lineup for the first time in two seasons.

The great thing for the 2018 Red Sox is he doesn’t have to be better than Moncada and Kopech this season. If he can hit a bit while playing a bit, that’s enough. He’s likely a better hitter than Holt, and definitely a better hitter than Marrero, and certainly a better hitter than Leon. If he stays healthy, shows something at the plate, then he’s probably still an upgrade over Leon long term. That’s a valuable guy, and one the organization shouldn’t be rushing to get rid of, especially for a Triple-A reliever, a C+ prospect, or whatever small return they might receive.

If the Angels call about Mike Trout, though, they probably should do that one.

Photo by Kim Klement — USA TODAY Sports

Swihart had sky-high value at this time and was considered untouchable by many when it came to trade talks. Young catchers who could play the position defensively and could hit for average and pop were not a common commodity, and they still aren’t. At BP, we published three scouting reports on Swihart between August of 2013 and May of 2015. These reports were glowing. Scouts raved about his 60-grade FV glove and arm, as well as his 55-grade FV hit tool. Our own fantasy prospect guru Bret Sayre called him a “lock to stick at catcher long term and hit for a strong average” and ranked him the 31st-best fantasy prospect in baseball. He was Buster Posey-lite, with his potential impact being compared to good Jonathan Lucroy.

A lot can change in a little over 1000 days. For Swihart, his position has changed and then changed back again. His health has changed for the worse and is now close to his old form. His value has also changed. Swihart is no longer talked about as a sought after trade chip, but rather as a player fighting for his baseball life in Boston.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

If you haven’t seen the catastrophic video of Swihart’s ankle injury, consider yourself lucky and do not look it up. On June 4th, 2016 — while playing in left field of all places — Swihart severely sprained his ankle after running into the side wall at Fenway Park. The rest is history: he underwent surgery on August 15th and worked his way back to health by last spring. The positive news was evident, and Swihart was strong enough to battle for a spot on the team during spring training of this past year. Let’s agree not to rehash the poor decision to play him there in the first place.

WHAT WENT WRONG

It was probably a forgone conclusion that the just-recently-healthy catcher who had been moved around the diamond the year before would not be the favorite to make it out of camp as the backup catcher. So what though? He was healthy. That was what mattered. As the year wore on, he played at Triple-A, returning to catching part-time until it became evident that his ankle was still not right. He struggled at the plate and needed a DL stint to get his body right. It was in large part a lost year — the second such year in a row for the player. He was called up in September and played just 12 innings behind the dish. By this time many folks were doubting if he would ever be relevant again.

WHAT TO EXPECT

In many ways 2018 will be a make or break year for Swihart’s future as a member of the Red Sox. He is now as healthy as he has been since his injury initially occurred, which will be key as he battles to make the roster this spring. You see, Swihart is out of options. He either makes the team out of camp or he is on a different team. Luckily for Swihart and the Red Sox, things are finally starting to break right for the former prospect. This winter he was healthy enough to play in the Dominican Winter League, where he batted .407/.515/.481 over 33 PA while catching for the Leones del Escogido.

If I were Dave Dombrowski, I would take a long look at Swihart and try and find any reason at all to have him on the bench to start the year. Swihart has pedigree, he’s only 26 years old, and he’s actually healthy! He still has the most offensive upside out of all of the Red Sox catchers and he’s athletic enough to play other positions. The bat is what should be the selling point though. His offensive upside is far greater than that of Brock Holt, Devin Marrero, and Sandy Leon, who he is potentially competing against for a roster spot. I have long defended Swihart, and now see him as more underrated than ever. I don’t doubt that we haven’t seen his best yet as a player. If I were DD, I’d want to make sure that we do see his best in the future, and that it’s while he’s wearing a Red Sox uniform.

Photo by Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports

This past season was certainly a difficult one for Holt on and off the field. The beloved bench bat, who has dealt with concussion issues over the years, missed time from late April until mid-July dealing with vertigo. There were times last year when I remember wondering if he would ever even play baseball again. As scary as that thought was for us fans, I imagine it was devastating for him. When Holt did return, he played his usual myriad of positions, but did so at the lowest level of his career. As we look to the 2018 season, there is a real argument to be made that the team would be better off without Holt.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

After getting back to the field on July 16th Holt didn’t miss any time for the remainder of the season. Just being able to stick with the team and not have to leave due to recurring vertigo was a victory for the player and the team. Oh, and the hair and smile were good all year.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Let’s begin with his batting line for the season. Over 64 games and 164 PA, Holt slashed .200/.305/.243 with zero home runs and just seven RBI. He was completely inept at the plate the entire season in a way that he had never shown us before. His .214 TAv was by far the lowest mark of his career, and overall, Holt was a detriment to the team offensively. Though he was once one of the strangest All-Stars in recent memory, Holt has never really created plus value with his bat. His offense has always been predicated on making contact.

The fact that John Farrell could trust Holt to play nearly every position on the field has always been his most valuable attribute. You knew you were going to get league average or worse offense, but there was little chance he would make a play that would kill you in the field. Holt wasn’t great, but simply solid all around the infield and in the corners of the outfield. After providing 6.7 FRAA in 2016 that number slipped to just 1.1 in 2017. The overall result was a player that was worth -0.2 WARP or -0.9 fWAR depending on which calculation you like best. Either way, negative WAR is not a good look.

WHAT TO EXPECT

I mentioned at the beginning how much his smile was worth and the Red Sox would be smart to move on from Brock Holt if they can find a trade partner. As the team looks at its potential bench for 2018, there are several more appealing options. Devin Marrero is a far superior defender in the infield and is out of options. Bryce Brentz, who was recently added to the 40-man roster, is a much better offensive player than Holt and is also out of options. Since the Red Sox have three guys who can play center field Brentz’s poor defense is no issue here. Sandy Leon, as long as he remains with the team, will take up a bench spot.

Perhaps the most interesting player who could replace Holt is Blake Swihart, who had .997 OPS in Dominican winter league ball. He is out of options and could surely be used all around the infield and in the outfield, although if I see him in the outfield again I might cry. The team could decide to try and shop one of the other players mentioned in order to get Sam Travis on the team. Travis, who mashes lefties, could make for an intriguing platoon partner for Mitch Moreland. All of this is to say that Holt might be too expensive and not good enough with either the glove or bat to warrant a spot on the team in 2018. It’s been a fun ride, but for the club and player, it’s probably time to get off.

Photo by Patrick McDermott — USA TODAY Sports

Leon exceeded (modest) expectations, and while he was never going to repeat his .310/.369/.476 stat line from 2016, he followed up his 2016 campaign with a season that looked more like what we should come to expect from Leon. It’s hard to package a year in which he took a significant step back offensively along with losing his starting spot as a positive thing, but there are some encouraging signs that Leon can continue to be productive in a specific role for the 2018 Red Sox.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Leon made something of a name for himself during his Red Sox tenure thanks to surprising flashes of competent hitting, but he was actually an excellent defensive catcher last year. His 5.5 Adjusted Fielding Runs Above Replacement (Adjusted FRAA) was good for 13th best in all of baseball. It was an eight-run improvement from his 2016 Adjusted FRAA (-3.3). Most of his catching stats improved from last year, and you can look check them all out right here. He improved his framing and blocking significantly, and set a career high in runners thrown out (18). After posting a DRS of 3 in 600 innings over the 2016 season, Leon doubled that number last year, posting a DRS of 7 in only 100 more innings. Leon outperformed Christian Vasquez behind the plate in 2017, although whether that’s more of an indictment of Vasquez than an endorsement of Leon is worth wondering.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Leon went back to looking mortal at the plate. Like I mentioned at the top, his slashline dropped from .310/.369/.476 to .225/.290/.354. His wOBA plummeted almost 100 points and he lost 200 points on his OPS this season. He went back to being a significantly below-average offensive catcher, especially in the second half. After hitting .244/.291/.381 with a 72 wRC+ (which is by no means impressive, but tolerable when coupled with good defense) in the first half, Leon only hit .198/.289/.315 with a 60 wRC+ during the second half. During that same time, Christian Vasquez blossomed into one of the better hitters on the team, hitting .314/.359/.453 with a 115 wRC+ over 17o PAs. While the starting catcher battle figures to take place during Spring Training, it certainly felt like Vasquez finally took the reigns as the team’s catcher of the future during that stretch.

WHAT TO EXPECT

If there’s any silver linings for the Leon enthusiasts among you, it’s that many of the attributes that led to Leon’s career-best season in 2016 were still in his underwhelming 2017. Leon benefited from incredible amounts of luck in ’16, posting a .392 BABIP. That number dropped 100 points in 2017, and while a .280 BABIP looks more realistic for Leon, the catcher’s numbers look eerily similar across both seasons. He’s striking out and walking at the exact same rate. There were some signs of increasingly weaker contact, but overall, his batted ball numbers stayed relatively unchanged. His rate of contact stayed consistent, and he didn’t chase more pitches out of the zone. Put simply, the regression everyone and their mothers saw coming came.

Leon is a backup catcher. He’s not exceptional behind the plate, but he’s not unreliable either. He’s not much of a hitter, but he can hold his own at the bottom of the order. At this point, Christian Vasquez (or Blake Swihart? Anyone? Anyone?) should be the starting catcher, with Leon acting as the backup/Chris Sale’s personal backstop. His contract was tendered at the beginning of December, so it stands to reason that Leon will be back with the team this year. I don’t know if Christian Vasquez is a starting catcher, but I do know that Leon is a backup catcher, and for the short term, that works just fine for the Red Sox.

Photo by Troy Taormina – USA TODAY Sports

Then 2017 happened, and man, did he look like a catcher reborn. That bat we just talked about? You know, the one that was just barely acceptable? It brought him to a whole new level. Add that to a fully armed and operational baseball catcher, and you’ve got yourself a starting-caliber player.

What Went Right in 2017

His bat! It lives! Vazquez had his best offensive season to date, setting new career highs in batting average, OPS, TAv, and pretty much any other batting rate stat you can think of. His 345 plate appearances are also a career-high, and started off the season so well that he unseated Sandy Leon atop the depth chart by May. Vazquez starting going the other way more as well, flicking singles into right field far more than he did before. He stopped hitting grounders 60 percent of the time, and lifted the ball more often, resulting in a .114 ISO, the highest of his career.

April and August were by far his best months of the season, as he started a combined 25 games in those months and posted an OPS over 1.000. That’s a hell of a streak. It also included arguably the best moment of the season for the 2017 Red Sox:

Jonny Gomes starts that clip off talking about extending the inning somehow. I don’t think Vazquez was too interested in that.

Vazquez’s defense also returned with a vengeance. He finished fifth overall in Fielding Runs Above Average, threw out 42 percent of potential base stealers, and his good work with handling baserunners lifted the Red Sox to second in the majors in caught stealing percentage, at 39 percent. Only Cleveland’s 43 percent was higher. Opposing teams stole just 61 bases against the Red Sox, third-lowest in the league, and while that’s a tandem effort between Vazquez and Leon, it goes to show how good the Red Sox have it behind home plate.

What Went Wrong in 2017

June and July weren’t kind to his bat, as he struggled at the plate and couldn’t muster an OPS over .600 during that span. His power would come and go over the months, and while it spiked in April and August, it would disappear over long stretches, and bring down whatever value he had with the bat during those spans of time.

That’s probably it, honestly. There wasn’t much he did wrong, it’s the future we’ve got to be wary about when it comes to Vazquez.

What To Expect in 2018

Vazquez is 27 years old, so he’s probably got a little more room to improve. But it needs to be said: 2017 doesn’t look very repeatable. He posted a .348 BABIP, and while some of that is thanks to an improved approach and batted ball profile, it doesn’t seem like something Vazquez would be able to sustain, given his lack of speed and general streakiness. I’m not saying it can’t happen – I’d love for him to even improve on everything here – but I’m skeptical that he can keep this up. The defense will still be divine, yes, but for Christian Vazquez, the one thing keeping him from catcher godhood is his mortal bat.

Photo by Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

If I had written this 48 hours ago, when the Red Sox were just coming off a 6-game winning streak amidst a 8-1 road trip, this would probably be titled something like “WHY THE RED SOX WILL WIN EVERY GAME FOR THE REST OF TIME AND THEY WON’T EVEN BE CLOSE” or something along those lines. I’d throw in a pun or two, my editor would take them out (that’s really what our dynamic boils down to [ed. note: I don’t hate puns that much, sheesh]) and that’d be that. But nope, the Red Sox have lost two whole games in a row, and I for one am going to treat this rationally by panicking for 500 words.

The Red Sox are a flawed team. I’m not sure there’s such a thing as a not-flawed team, but of the eight teams that will make the MLB postseason, the Red Sox feel particularly vulnerable. There’s imbalance in the rotation, uncertainty in the bullpen, and good lord, everyone is playing with a broken limb. What are the biggest issues heading into this season’s postseason run? IT’S LISTIN’ TIME.

1. Injuries 

The Red Sox offense is very just okay. In fact, I could hear an argument that “very just okay” is a particularly optimistic way to describe it. Dustin Pedroia’s knee is clearly off. It’s being described as “achy”, which is borderline insulting considering the type of medical technology and diagnosing abilities the team’s medical staff posses. During last night’s game, Jerry Remy, who tends to be in the know when it comes to player issues, sounded ominous when discussing just how bad off the knee was. He’ll fight through it because he’s Dustin Pedroia, but when he gets that baby scoped, drained, and rebuilt after hitting .190 this postseason, we’ll all be on the same page.

Eduardo Nunez’s knee is apparently not much better, as he tweaked it almost immediately after returning to game action. There’s no timetable on his return, and while he said he’s aiming to see some game action during the Houston series coming up this weekend, that feels overly optimistic.

Lastly, and most importantly, Mookie Betts is working through some wrist issues. The Sox dodged a major bullet when the CT scan came back only showing some inflammation, but wrist injuries are no joke. There’s also this tweet from Peter Gammons, who is surely connected to people in the organization:

How Mookie Betts became one of baseball’s best base runners https://t.co/B198DmyAeY Wrist injuries can be very serious,and Betts' scares Sox

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) September 26, 2017

Betts has shown the ability to impact the game in ways outside of hitting all year, as evident by his generally-similar WAR numbers matched up with a underwhelming season at the plate. A wrist injury is a different beast though, and if Betts is swinging with one hand for the next month, the Sox are cooked.

2. Hanley Ramirez 

It’s bad, guys. He’s hitting .211 over the last month, and .209 in the second half. At this point, would anyone be that surprised if he’s not in the team’s plans for after this season? He’s not going to be playing first base against righties during the playoffs, which isn’t unusual in itself. What makes things tricky is that even when he’s not in the field during those situations, it’s not like he’s the best option at DH, either. If – and that’s a big if – Pedroia and Nunez can play, it stands to reason that the best offensive lineup has both of them in it. Hell, keeping Christian Vazquez’s bat in the lineup when Sandy Leon is catching even makes more sense at this point. A lot’s being made about Ramirez’s spot on the roster, which seems silly at this point. Even with his struggles, his bat coming off the bench in a big spot during the later innings gives me, like, five percent more hope than anyone else the team would trot out there would. His spot on the postseason roster shouldn’t be debated; his spot in any starting lineup should.

3. Fatigue 

This is, admittedly, a dumb one. That’s why it’s number three. Every other team has played the same amount of games. Everyone’s hurting, everyone’s arms are dead, everyone’s *insert baseball euphemism about The Daily Grind here*. But where the Red Sox seem most fatigued, starting pitching, is what makes this an issue. Drew Pomeranz’s velocity is the hot topic this week, and rightfully so:

Pomeranz's FB velocity has been dropping since mid August. This chart doesn't include tonight's game which would extend the trend pic.twitter.com/2ryX5h1DHZ

— Matthew Kory (@mattymatty2000) September 26, 2017

Pomeranz, at 167 innings pitched this year, is now three away from his career-high. There could be a dozen other reasons for a drop in velocity, but I’m hard-pressed to believe that an unprecedented workload and a sharp dip in velocity aren’t in some way related.

Chris Sale has also looked mortal over the last month, and he’s also getting close to his career-high in innings pitched. His velocity has actually gone up over the last month or so, so who knows what to think:

He’s getting hit significantly harder over the last month or so, however, which could indicate that some of that classic baseball idiom about throwing instead of pitching might be going on. Might that be the case? Maybe, but it’s 11:30 pm and I’m already above 800 words, so that investigation will have to wait. For now, I will say that the numbers, combined with the good ol’ fashioned eye test, make it seem like Sale is dragging some. The Red Sox have spent all year preaching that it’ll be the starting pitching that carries them, relying on the belief that pitching dominates the playoffs. If that’s true, and the team sends two of their three starters out to the mound with no gas left and that offense behind them, it’s going to be a short series.

Photo by Bob DeChiara – USA TODAY Sports

It’s fun because it’s silly, because it’s juvenile, and because it’s utterly unnecessary. I love that they’ve spent time figuring this thing out – you do this, and you do this and I’ll do this, no wait let’s try it this way, and on and on – time which has been spent together, working as friends.

Winning baseball is fun. Any team that wins is fun. And this 2017 Red Sox team wins, so by definition they are fun. But this team is more than fun-because-they-win fun. This team is straight up roller-coaster milk-coming-out-your-nose yelling-out-the-moon-roof-of-a-moving-car fun, and the outfield dance is only one reason. Here are many, many others.

1. Anytime anyone tries to hit a ball past Dustin Pedroia.
2. Chili Davis. On one end of the cool cat scale you have former Yankees catcher Brian McCann, who probably dresses like an old timey school marm and hits puppies with sticks for fun. On the other end of the cool cat scale you have Chili Davis, who plays jazz trumpet in clubs until 4am and will chat you up long after that. Does he really play jazz trumpet in clubs after games? Who knows, but metaphorically speaking absolutely.
3. Hanley. The Red Sox drafted him and then they dealt him away. That happens. Baseball is a business. But through all that, through two other organizations and a literal decade of time, dude still felt an attachment to Boston and wanted to come back. I’ll never forget that. Also he’s a total goofball whose helmet needs to be crazy-glued to his hair. We should get a Kickstarter rolling for that.
4. Hanley’s homers. GOOD GOD Y’ALL, those things GO. When he gets a hold of one it’s a sight to see. I tell ya, A SIGHT TO SEE!
5. You know what’s fun? Stuff that is exciting! And you know what’s exciting? Any time the Red Sox get a base runner! Will he steal? Maybe! Will he be thrown out at home by 30 feet? Maybe! Exciting! Fun!
6. Andrew Benintendi’s hair.
7. Andrew Benintendi’s swing.
8. Andrew Benintendi.
9. You know how when Mookie stands in the batter’s box and glares back at the pitcher his lip does this little curl thing, kinda like Elvis Presley used to do? I love that.
10. Craig Kimbrel is striking out more than half the batters he’s faced this season. He’s at 51.8 percent right now! Exclamation point! Vomit! YELLING! Fifty-one point eight perWHAT! AHHHHHHH! That’s a lot is what I’m saying.
11. So this kid who is 20 years old was playing for Salem, Virginia in the Carolina League last season and now he’s the starting third baseman for the Red Sox and he’s always smiling like that time he smiled after he turned around a 103 mph fastball from Aroldis Chapman and tied the game in ninth inning. That was a smile!
12. Joe Kelly’s velocity readings are fun!
13. Joe Kelly’s great stuff is funny because it’s not real, which is fun!
14. You know how the Yankees aren’t doing great and are always mad and they are paying Aroldis Chapman a lot of money to be awful? That’s not directly related to the Red Sox but it sure is fun anyway!
15. The standings! You should look at them sometime. They are great fun.
16. Mookie sometimes fools fielders and thieves bases from them.
17. Jackie’s defense. Have you ever seen him miss a ball? Like, ever?
18. Sandy Leon and his occasional magic. You never see it coming and then POW! Right in the kisser!
19. Brandon Workman last pitched in the majors in 2014. You know who started the most games for that team? Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz, Jake Peavy, Rubby De La Rosa, and Workman. That’s a long time ago! Then Workman got hurt and rehabbed and then he got hurt again and rehabbed and his rehab didn’t take and he had to start and stop and start and stop and start and stop again. Poor guy as recently as this season was throwing 87 in the minors and getting lit up. Now he’s back in the mid-90s and looking like a worthwhile piece of a major league bullpen. That’s persistence. That’s perseverance. That’s impressive. Also, remember that time he batted in the World Series? Less fun, that.
20. Addison Reed will probably help eventually!
21. Eduardo Nunez: How bad must the Giants have been that they couldn’t win with this guy?
22. Remember that time Doug Fister looked like Chris Sale? That was fun! (We’ll ignore the time Chris Sale looked like Doug Fister.)
23. Robby Scott might not be your favorite Red Sox, but he’s one of mine. Remember Daniel Nava? Scott is the reliever version of Nava. Like Nava, Scott went undrafted and started his career in pro ball only Scott played for the Yuma Scorpions of the independent league where he was teammates with Jose and Ozzie Canseco. It’s like wanting to be a baseball player and the only job available was with the circus. He almost quit baseball to become a teacher, which considering his circumstances, made perfect sense. But now he’s in a major league bullpen!
24. Fenway Park. I don’t care that the seats are small and everything costs a fortune. Okay, I care, but the point is that’s the place Ruth played, where Williams and Yaz and Ortiz all made their names. It’s worth it, it’s worth every bit of it. Fenway is on the top of any list of major league ballparks because it’s living history, but also because it’s damn beautiful right now. Really, it’s at the top of any list of pro sports stadiums that you have to visit. It’s the best.
25. Fernando Abad has been okay!
26. Rick Porcello’s immaculate inning. Remember that?! That was crazy!
27. Rafael Devers’ triple play. Remember that?!? That was crazy!
28. Unexpected stuff is lots of fun, when it’s good, and Porcello’s 2016 was exactly that. Drew Pomeranz has taken up where Rick Porcello’s 2016 season left off. Pomeranz has been as valuable as Jose Quintana and Jake Arrieta by BP’s metrics, and as valuable as Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander by Baseball Reference. Pomeranz has been what the Red Sox thought they were getting when they signed David Price. He’s been that good.
29. Chris Young’s weird short-armed swing is so weird. How does he hit the ball? I don’t know!
30. Chris Sale has over 253 strikeouts which coincidentally is the same number of times I would strike out against Chris Sale were I to bat against him 253 times.
31. Heath Hembree’s hair. It’s like he saw the movie Coming To America where Eddie Murphy’s character wears soul glow hair goop and thought, yeah, that’s what I want.
32. Have you seen those embarrassing high school pictures the relievers (probably Joe Kelly) have hung in the bullpen? They’re hilarious!

This is only a partial list. There’s also Brian Johnson’s complete game five-hitter against the Mariners in May, Tzu-Wei Lin getting three hits in a 15-1 win over the Blue Jays, and of course, that time Deven Marrero hit two homers in the same game off Jose Quintana. It really does go on and on with this team. They are a ton of fun, and that will be true whether they go out meekly in the first round, or win the World Series. Even after a spanking from Cleveland, I look forward to the next Red Sox game. Fun times are good.

Photo by Ken Blaze – USA TODAY Sports

Not every prospect pans out. For every Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts, there are as many, if not more, Lars Andersons and Will Middlebrooks. Sometimes it’s talent related, and other times it’s injury related. None of this should be ground-breaking analysis. It’s very possible (and becoming more likely) that Swihart becomes the next prospect that just couldn’t stay healthy. The idea of a prospect not reaching his ceiling because of injury, while still frustrating, is an understandable aspect of the game. Catcher is an especially grueling position; there’s a reason why so few catchers, even at the major league level, finish their careers there. Try spending three hours a night in a crouched position, 162 nights a year, for five to ten years. It sounds awful.

Catcher is an especially grueling position; there’s a reason why so few catchers, even at the major league level, finish their careers there.

The problem hasn’t only been injuries, though. Half the battle has been the team’s a borderline-indefensible approach to managing Swihart. The organization has insisted on treating Swihart like a prospect who would grow out of the catcher position as he progressed through the minors. If you look at just his major-league numbers, you’d agree. In terms of Fielding Runs Above Average (FRAA), Baseball Prospectus’ catch-all defensive metric, Swihart was not good with the Sox. In 2015, he spent 668 innings behind the plate, starting 78 games. During that span, Swihart posted a -8.7 FRAA, which you don’t need an in-depth explainer to tell you is not good.

It was after that stretch of games that the organization seemed to decide that Swihart wasn’t the answer. There were other positions where his bat could play, they thought, and in two years Christian Vasquez was going to be the best defensive catcher in baseball anyway. Swihart got exactly 52 innings to work with as the starting catcher in 2016 before the Sox made a change, sending him down to Triple-A. Through those 52 innings, Swihart hit .278/.391/.278, which is discouraging only from a power-hitting perspective. It seemed like a rash decision; for someone who flashed power all throughout the minors, it’s not inconceivable that adjusting to major league pitching might’ve taken a while (coughjackiebradleyjrcough). At least more than 52 innings. It’s not like the production from their other catchers has been noticeably better since then:

Ryan Hanigan

2015 (54 games): .247/.337/.328
2016 (35 games): .171/.230/.238

Sandy Leon

2015 (41 games): .184/.283/.202
2016 (78 games): .310/.369/.476 (a career year, whatever)
2017 (52 games): .241/.293/.371

Christian Vazquez

2016 (57 games): .227/.277/.308
2017 (54 games): .266/.303/.350

Outside of Leon’s career year – which was actually more of a career first half – are any of those worth giving up on Swihart for?

What’s worse than the quick hook was what came next. Deciding that Swihart had apparently played his last game behind the plate, the Sox tried to fast track him back to the majors through left field. Swihart, a great athlete by all regards, gave it the ol’ college try. Then this happened:

Since then, Swihart’s been either hurt, or healthy-ish but not playing catcher. All the while, the Red Sox have trotted out the likes of Ryan Hanigan, Sandy Leon, and Christian Vasquez. And sure, Sandy Leon gets hot for a few weeks at a time and everyone loves it. It’s great. I’ve seen more two-homer games from Sandy Leon than I would have ever imagined in my wildest dreams, which is saying something because dreaming about Sandy Leon is pretty wild. And yet, despite Swihart being 1. having the highest ceiling of any catcher on the team and 2. showing signs of being a capable major league hitter, the team has refused to give him another shot.

The latest news regarding Swihart came a few days ago, when Farrell told media members that they were going to start giving him some innings at both corner infield spots. His ankle has had some setbacks in the healing process that hasn’t allowed him to catch, they said. Maybe that’s true – if so, I have like 72.5 million shares of Rusney Castillo stock that I think you’d be interested in. Playing Swihart in left, and then at first, and then soon at third ensure that the Red Sox have bungled away two things: a young prospect with a ceiling that would make you drool, and one of their farm’s more valuable trade chips. There was a time when Swihart was the centerpiece of every hypothetical blockbuster on the internet. Who wouldn’t want a young catcher with above-average hit skills, speed, and projectable defense? If the Red Sox were going to roll with Christian Vasquez, the least they could do was realize when to sell high. They did neither, and now we’re stuck wincing through Boston Globe longreads about the challenges he’s faced over the last two years. Baseball is dumb sometimes.

Photo by Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports