The Boston Red Sox are just too good! Sometimes that can actually be a bad thing when it comes down to crunching down your roster. The Red Sox have been one of the best teams in baseball while essentially only using 24 players on their roster. The Red Sox have carried three catchers on their roster because they don’t want to lose Blake Swihart for nothing. However, with Dustin Pedroia on the cusp of returning from offseason knee surgery, the Red Sox have to do something with Swihart soon.
Swihart might be the best offensive catcher on the roster. Although his numbers don’t show it because of limited plate appearances, Swihart is a much better hitter than his .138 average over 28 at bats. Starter Christian Vazquez is hitting just .179 on the season. Chris Sale’s personal catcher, Sandy Leon, is even worse hitting .170. The problem for Swihart is that Vazquez and Leon are tremendous defensive catchers. We aren’t so sure that Swihart can even play the position.
Swihart was drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft. Swihart has appeared in 15 total games played and hasn’t played one behind the plate. When he does play catcher, it’s pretty much a disaster. Swihart tried to play the outfield in 2015 and broke his leg doing so putting scarres in the coaching staff to throw him back out there. The fact of the matter is that Boston needs to do something with the former first-round pick because keeping him on the bench doesn’t make much sense.
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With Pedroia rehabbing in AAA Pawtucket, the roster crunch is coming. Eduardo Nunez isn’t going anywhere. Neither is Brock Holt. Moving Swihart is really the only option. It’s truly impossible to know what his value is in a trade either. Could Boston look for to swap Swihart for a reliever? With Tyler Thornburg coming back in the near future, Boston could become a lights out pen from the 6th inning on when you consider how good Carson Smith, Joe Kelly, and Craig Kimbrell can be. Dear, Dave. Please find a trade for Swihart or you’re going to lose him for nothing.
