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Minor League Catching Depth
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Post by bellhorndingers21 on Feb 18, 2022 11:02:36 GMT -5
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Feb 18, 2022 11:54:11 GMT -5
Epperson on Vazquez: "He was a second baseman-shortstop when he signed him and played some at third base in the low minors."
Uh no?
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Post by Underwater Johnson on Feb 19, 2022 18:49:01 GMT -5
If they go to robot umps, catching is going to be reduced to footwork, a good arm, being able to crouch for 9 innings, and hit tool. A lot of games are already called from the dugout and with the new rules about plays at the plate, a catcher no longer needs to be a huge dude. All of those things add up to sub-prime young SS, 2B, 3B prospects being asked to wear more gear.
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Post by Underwater Johnson on Feb 19, 2022 18:57:37 GMT -5
Epperson on Vazquez: "He was a second baseman-shortstop when he signed him and played some at third base in the low minors." Uh no? For the record, Vazquez played 9 games at 3B when he was 18, split between Ft. Myers and Lowell. He has never started a game at 3B since (he has appeared at 3B in 10 games with BOS, probably most of them in extra innings or due to injury). Maybe they coached him up a little at 3B in that off-season but that's 9 out of 546 total minor league games. I do recall hearing Christian say in an interview that he used to play some 2B in high school, so maybe he also played SS once or twice. Or maybe Epperson was just saying what Gammons wanted to hear...
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Post by freddysthefuture2003 on Feb 19, 2022 19:56:18 GMT -5
Acquiring the catcher of the future is up at the top my list for things I'd like to see Bloom tackle. Really wish Florida didn't swoop in on Stallings pre-lockout, I wonder what the package was.
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Post by prospectlove on Feb 19, 2022 20:16:10 GMT -5
I think we could have catcher of future in Hernandez or Wong. I kinda hope trey atleast take a serious look at them. Hernandez especially is intriguing to me.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Feb 19, 2022 20:38:08 GMT -5
I think we could have catcher of future in Hernandez or Wong. I kinda hope trey atleast take a serious look at them. Hernandez especially is intriguing to me. Neither one projects as a starting catcher. Wong has good power but likely won't hit enough and lacks plate discipline but Hernandez has worse plate discipline. Hardly ever walks and has some defensive issues. At best they might be 2nd division regulars but are more likely to be backups. The Sox really dont have a catcher of the future. I think they like Nathan Hickey's bat and hope he can catch. I think they have a kid named Lira who is extremely young and I think they like him on both sides of the ball. He's probably their most upside catcher you can dream on since the late Daniel Flores. So the Sox don't have a true starting catcher prospect on the horizon and probably go outside the organization if they don't extend Vazquez.
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Post by freddysthefuture2003 on Feb 19, 2022 20:48:19 GMT -5
I think we could have catcher of future in Hernandez or Wong. I kinda hope trey atleast take a serious look at them. Hernandez especially is intriguing to me. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for one of them to emerge. But if I had to bet on them or the field being the everyday backstop in 3-5 years, I'm taking the field
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Post by prospectlove on Feb 19, 2022 22:07:36 GMT -5
I think we could have catcher of future in Hernandez or Wong. I kinda hope trey atleast take a serious look at them. Hernandez especially is intriguing to me. Neither one projects as a starting catcher. Wong has good power but likely won't hit enough and lacks plate discipline but Hernandez has worse plate discipline. Hardly ever walks and has some defensive issues. At best they might be 2nd division regulars but are more likely to be backups. The Sox really dont have a catcher of the future. I think they like Nathan Hickey's bat and hope he can catch. I think they have a kid named Lira who is extremely young and I think they like him on both sides of the ball. He's probably their most upside catcher you can dream on since the late Daniel Flores. So the Sox don't have a true starting catcher prospect on the horizon and probably go outside the organization if they don't extend Vazquez. Jason varitek wasn’t seen as catcher of future when traded for or called up. Vasquez wasn’t seen as catcher of future when he was promoted. Both were seen as backups. Hernandez had the most power of any player in his league while in a- and high a. He was also rated the best defensive catcher. Now I’m not saying this hasn’t changed. Or that they will be anything more. I personally would like to give them the chance as a backup before we go and write them off as not our catcher of the future. More than any position catchers just take TIME and opportunity. Let’s give them that and see where it goes. Atleast as a serious backup
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Post by freddysthefuture2003 on Feb 19, 2022 22:34:40 GMT -5
Neither one projects as a starting catcher. Wong has good power but likely won't hit enough and lacks plate discipline but Hernandez has worse plate discipline. Hardly ever walks and has some defensive issues. At best they might be 2nd division regulars but are more likely to be backups. The Sox really dont have a catcher of the future. I think they like Nathan Hickey's bat and hope he can catch. I think they have a kid named Lira who is extremely young and I think they like him on both sides of the ball. He's probably their most upside catcher you can dream on since the late Daniel Flores. So the Sox don't have a true starting catcher prospect on the horizon and probably go outside the organization if they don't extend Vazquez. Jason varitek wasn’t seen as catcher of future when traded for or called up. Vasquez wasn’t seen as catcher of future when he was promoted. Both were seen as backups. Hernandez had the most power of any player in his league while in a- and high a. He was also rated the best defensive catcher. Now I’m not saying this hasn’t changed. Or that they will be anything more. I personally would like to give them the chance as a backup before we go and write them off as not our catcher of the future. More than any position catchers just take TIME and opportunity. Let’s give them that and see where it goes. Atleast as a serious backup Varitek had his ups and downs in the minors, but had the pedigree, not many guys are taken in the 1st round TWICE
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Feb 20, 2022 1:09:16 GMT -5
Neither one projects as a starting catcher. Wong has good power but likely won't hit enough and lacks plate discipline but Hernandez has worse plate discipline. Hardly ever walks and has some defensive issues. At best they might be 2nd division regulars but are more likely to be backups. The Sox really dont have a catcher of the future. I think they like Nathan Hickey's bat and hope he can catch. I think they have a kid named Lira who is extremely young and I think they like him on both sides of the ball. He's probably their most upside catcher you can dream on since the late Daniel Flores. So the Sox don't have a true starting catcher prospect on the horizon and probably go outside the organization if they don't extend Vazquez. Jason varitek wasn’t seen as catcher of future when traded for or called up. Vasquez wasn’t seen as catcher of future when he was promoted. Both were seen as backups. Hernandez had the most power of any player in his league while in a- and high a. He was also rated the best defensive catcher. Now I’m not saying this hasn’t changed. Or that they will be anything more. I personally would like to give them the chance as a backup before we go and write them off as not our catcher of the future. More than any position catchers just take TIME and opportunity. Let’s give them that and see where it goes. Atleast as a serious backup Not true about Varitek. He had some question marks, but he did have a pedigree. He was the prize in the Slocumb deal. Derek Lowe was a throw-in. Vazquez was highly rated defensively and hit well in the lower minors. I think the Sox rated him highly. They actually chose him over a 1st round pick on Swihart. Dombrowski made sure to hold onto him. Hernandez has a strong arm but from what I heard needed work defensively. He has some pop in his bat and can hit a little but is likely to have an OBP below .300 because he gets himself out on a lot of pitches. His extreme lack of selectivity could hurt him in the majors. If he were to be more selective and still maintain his hit tool they might have something there but he'd really have to overhaul his offensive approach.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Feb 20, 2022 8:49:47 GMT -5
Epperson on Vazquez: "He was a second baseman-shortstop when he signed him and played some at third base in the low minors." Uh no? For the record, Vazquez played 9 games at 3B when he was 18, split between Ft. Myers and Lowell. He has never started a game at 3B since (he has appeared at 3B in 10 games with BOS, probably most of them in extra innings or due to injury). Maybe they coached him up a little at 3B in that off-season but that's 9 out of 546 total minor league games. I do recall hearing Christian say in an interview that he used to play some 2B in high school, so maybe he also played SS once or twice. Or maybe Epperson was just saying what Gammons wanted to hear... I probably should have been clearer that I took issue with the "drafted as a middle infielder" part - he absolutely played some 3B in rookie ball. Anyway, addressing a different post, Vázquez, by the time he came up, was thought of as strong enough defensively that you could perhaps deal with him not hitting much. He's hit above his 50th percentile projection, in general. That said, if you want to say "he was thought of as X," it's all about when you're talking about. I wouldn't say, IIRC, he was seriously thought of as a potential future MLB starter until Portland ( news.soxprospects.com/2013/07/scouting-scratch-portland-notebook.html ) and perhaps Pawtucket ( news.soxprospects.com/2014/04/the-write-up_17.html ), but I'd say he was definitely more highly thought of in the high minors than either Wong or Hernández, again because of his high defensive floor, particularly relative to those two.
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 20, 2022 11:01:01 GMT -5
Jason varitek wasn’t seen as catcher of future when traded for or called up. Vasquez wasn’t seen as catcher of future when he was promoted. Both were seen as backups. Hernandez had the most power of any player in his league while in a- and high a. He was also rated the best defensive catcher. Now I’m not saying this hasn’t changed. Or that they will be anything more. I personally would like to give them the chance as a backup before we go and write them off as not our catcher of the future. More than any position catchers just take TIME and opportunity. Let’s give them that and see where it goes. Atleast as a serious backup Varitek had his ups and downs in the minors, but had the pedigree, not many guys are taken in the 1st round TWICE Varitek had a pedigree, but also a lot of minor league performance that made it look dubious to expect much from him. From John Sickels' prospect retrospective. "Varitek made his pro debut for Double-A Port City in 1995 [at age 23] and was terrible, hitting just .224/.340/.361. He did hit 10 homers and draw 61 walks, but he struck out 126 times in 352 at-bats. He was unimpressive on defense as well, throwing out 27% of runners (worse than expected) while coughing up 21 passed balls in just 89 games behind the plate. Reports were pretty negative and he was generally considered a massive disappointment. He was supposed to be a future star, but his performance didn't match the expectations generated in college. Varitek returned to Port City in 1996 and improved slightly, hitting .262/.350/.406 with 12 homers. He drew 66 walks and reduced his strikeout rate, whiffing 93 times in 503 at-bats, and he wasn't as bad with the glove, either, although his 29% caught rate was still not as good as anticipated. He was now 24 years old and had repeated the league without a massive upgrade in performance. Moved up to Triple-A Tacoma for 1997, Varitek hit .254/.329/.443 with 15 homers, 34 walks, and 71 strikeouts in 307 at-bats. Late that summer he was traded from the Mariners to the Red Sox along with Derek Lowe in exchange for Heathcliff Slocumb. He hit .197/.284/.318 in 20 games for Pawtucket after the trade. Reviews of his defense were improving and he looked a lot more like the player anticipated on defense, but his swing was perceived as too slow and long for him to be a major league star at that point. He looked like a Grade C prospect to me, and I wrote "while Varitek won't be a luminary in the Show, his combination of power and defense does have value, provided that expectations aren't too high." www.minorleagueball.com/2012/3/6/2849678/career-profile-and-prospect-retro-jason-varitek-retires
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Post by jimed14 on Feb 20, 2022 11:04:33 GMT -5
I think we could have catcher of future in Hernandez or Wong. I kinda hope trey atleast take a serious look at them. Hernandez especially is intriguing to me. Neither one projects as a starting catcher. Wong has good power but likely won't hit enough and lacks plate discipline but Hernandez has worse plate discipline. Hardly ever walks and has some defensive issues. At best they might be 2nd division regulars but are more likely to be backups. The Sox really dont have a catcher of the future. I think they like Nathan Hickey's bat and hope he can catch. I think they have a kid named Lira who is extremely young and I think they like him on both sides of the ball. He's probably their most upside catcher you can dream on since the late Daniel Flores. So the Sox don't have a true starting catcher prospect on the horizon and probably go outside the organization if they don't extend Vazquez. Good catchers barely need to hit. See Sandy Leon. And the Red Sox seem to really like Wong's ability to handle pitchers.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Feb 20, 2022 11:27:59 GMT -5
Neither one projects as a starting catcher. Wong has good power but likely won't hit enough and lacks plate discipline but Hernandez has worse plate discipline. Hardly ever walks and has some defensive issues. At best they might be 2nd division regulars but are more likely to be backups. The Sox really dont have a catcher of the future. I think they like Nathan Hickey's bat and hope he can catch. I think they have a kid named Lira who is extremely young and I think they like him on both sides of the ball. He's probably their most upside catcher you can dream on since the late Daniel Flores. So the Sox don't have a true starting catcher prospect on the horizon and probably go outside the organization if they don't extend Vazquez. Good catchers barely need to hit. See Sandy Leon. And the Red Sox seem to really like Wong's ability to handle pitchers. They have to hit some to keep a job. Sandy Leon got his job hitting .310 and lost it hitting .170. Wong will have to show he can hit enough to supplant Vazquez and show that he's good enough defensively. We know he has some pop but has had some terrible K/BB ratios that could be very problematic in the majors. He needs to have a big year at Worcester for the Sox to think of him as a starting catcher because I don't know that he is as he is right now. I'd say that the jury is still out on that.
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Post by Underwater Johnson on Feb 20, 2022 13:41:26 GMT -5
If forced to choose one, I'd take Wong over Hernandez.
I'm not sleeping on Cottam either.
If we are overtaken by robot umps, Hickey might be the C of the future.
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Post by James Dunne on Feb 20, 2022 13:48:33 GMT -5
Also there's a big gap between these "catchers of the future" of the past.
Jason Varitek became an above-average catcher for a very long time, a clear first-division starter who had All-Star level seasons. It matched his early pedigree and talent and showed why it's often good to be patient when a catcher struggles at the plate in the minors, especially when they've gotten something of a progressive promotion schedule. The chances Wong, or Hernandez, or a 2022 first-round pick turns into Varitek is extremely unlikely.
Christian Vazquez is a 31-year-old with a 4.9 career bWAR. He has had one (1) season above 2.0 bWAR, and four above .5 bWAR. So if you're telling me they have in their system the next below-average-but-above-replacement-level catcher who they end up sticking with for several years because he's a reliable budget option at a volatile position, I'd believe that. Like, Connor Wong could have Christian Vazquez's career arc, sure.
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jimoh
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Post by jimoh on Feb 20, 2022 13:54:55 GMT -5
Good catchers barely need to hit. See Sandy Leon. And the Red Sox seem to really like Wong's ability to handle pitchers. They have to hit some to keep a job. Sandy Leon got his job hitting .310 and lost it hitting .170.Wong will have to show he can hit enough to supplant Vazquez and show that he's good enough defensively. We know he has some pop but has had some terrible K/BB ratios that could be very problematic in the majors. He needs to have a big year at Worcester for the Sox to think of him as a starting catcher because I don't know that he is as he is right now. I'd say that the jury is still out on that. Sandy Leon got his job with the Red Sox after hitting .156 with the Nationals. His first year with the Sox he hit .225. They brought him back for another year. Somehow he made a deal with the devil and hit .310 in 2016. That .310 is not how he "got his job." In 2017 he hit .225 but the Sox brought him back for another year. When he hit .177 in 2018 the Red Sox won a lot of games, and they brought him back for another year. After he hit .192 in 2019 at age 30 they let him go. "Good catchers barely need to hit. See Sandy Leon." is right.
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Post by redsox04071318champs on Feb 20, 2022 14:02:05 GMT -5
They have to hit some to keep a job. Sandy Leon got his job hitting .310 and lost it hitting .170.Wong will have to show he can hit enough to supplant Vazquez and show that he's good enough defensively. We know he has some pop but has had some terrible K/BB ratios that could be very problematic in the majors. He needs to have a big year at Worcester for the Sox to think of him as a starting catcher because I don't know that he is as he is right now. I'd say that the jury is still out on that. Sandy Leon got his job with the Red Sox after hitting .156 with the Nationals. His first year with the Sox he hit .225. They brought him back for another year. Somehow he made a deal with the devil and hit .310 in 2016. That .310 is not how he "got his job." In 2017 he hit .225 but the Sox brought him back for another year. When he hit .177 in 2018 the Red Sox won a lot of games, and they brought him back for another year. After he hit .192 in 2019 at age 30 they let him go. "Good catchers barely need to hit. See Sandy Leon." is right. Leon had all of 114 ABs in 2015 and was barely playing in 2016 and then something happened where he got a chance - I can't recall if it was an injury or not, but he got some ABs and had the hot streak of his life which enabled him to be the 2nd half regular catcher and bought him more opportunities to play to prove that he could hit some, but he couldn't which is why the guy hardly had more than 250 ABs in a season.
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Post by ghostofrussgibson on Feb 20, 2022 14:02:59 GMT -5
The other day I was thinking about this very topic - does Boston have a legit catcher-in-waiting? Made me reflect on the 'what might have been' with Daniel Flores. Not unlike with Ryan Westmoreland. It's expected that injuries can limit a guy's ability to perform, but death and very serious health issues are an aberration for athletes at that early stage in their adult life.
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Post by prospectlove on Feb 20, 2022 16:22:09 GMT -5
I think whomever needs to be given a chance to see if there is some development. The post about Jason varitek is exactly what I’m getting at. I’m not saying we shouldn’t target a catcher in draft or if there is an international free agency next year. I am saying we don’t need to use resources and feel we have a NEED that MUST be addressed because we don’t have it in our system. Let’s hope Wong or Hernandez get a chance as backup for a mont long stint in majors to see what we might have on hand. I sure wouldn’t mind giving said backup a run next year if through that time on the team and with coaches they feel he could be a starter next year
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Post by jimed14 on Feb 20, 2022 16:32:08 GMT -5
Also there's a big gap between these "catchers of the future" of the past. Jason Varitek became an above-average catcher for a very long time, a clear first-division starter who had All-Star level seasons. It matched his early pedigree and talent and showed why it's often good to be patient when a catcher struggles at the plate in the minors, especially when they've gotten something of a progressive promotion schedule. The chances Wong, or Hernandez, or a 2022 first-round pick turns into Varitek is extremely unlikely. Christian Vazquez is a 31-year-old with a 4.9 career bWAR. He has had one (1) season above 2.0 bWAR, and four above .5 bWAR. So if you're telling me they have in their system the next below-average-but-above-replacement-level catcher who they end up sticking with for several years because he's a reliable budget option at a volatile position, I'd believe that. Like, Connor Wong could have Christian Vazquez's career arc, sure. As I've repeated many times over the years, WAR calculations for catchers are woefully inaccurate compared to how teams actually value them. There isn't any calculation nor could there be for the level of comfort that pitchers have with a catcher.
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Post by James Dunne on Feb 20, 2022 17:27:37 GMT -5
Also there's a big gap between these "catchers of the future" of the past. Jason Varitek became an above-average catcher for a very long time, a clear first-division starter who had All-Star level seasons. It matched his early pedigree and talent and showed why it's often good to be patient when a catcher struggles at the plate in the minors, especially when they've gotten something of a progressive promotion schedule. The chances Wong, or Hernandez, or a 2022 first-round pick turns into Varitek is extremely unlikely. Christian Vazquez is a 31-year-old with a 4.9 career bWAR. He has had one (1) season above 2.0 bWAR, and four above .5 bWAR. So if you're telling me they have in their system the next below-average-but-above-replacement-level catcher who they end up sticking with for several years because he's a reliable budget option at a volatile position, I'd believe that. Like, Connor Wong could have Christian Vazquez's career arc, sure. As I've repeated many times over the years, WAR calculations for catchers are woefully inaccurate compared to how teams actually value them. There isn't any calculation nor could there be for the level of comfort that pitchers have with a catcher. In general I think that's true, but more specifically to Varitek and Vazquez and whether a Connor Wong type can reach their level I think it's illustrative. Varitek was viewed as a potential star, his value dropped, the Red Sox bought low (no pun intended), and he turned into a very important piece of the franchise for like 15 years. Vazquez is fine, the sort of major leaguer you can envision a Grade 40-45 prospect turning into if some things break right. "Neither was viewed as the catcher of the future and then they were both the Red Sox starting catcher" is a lot more reductive than WAR is.
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Post by Chris Hatfield on Feb 20, 2022 19:16:26 GMT -5
Sandy Leon got his job with the Red Sox after hitting .156 with the Nationals. His first year with the Sox he hit .225. They brought him back for another year. Somehow he made a deal with the devil and hit .310 in 2016. That .310 is not how he "got his job." In 2017 he hit .225 but the Sox brought him back for another year. When he hit .177 in 2018 the Red Sox won a lot of games, and they brought him back for another year. After he hit .192 in 2019 at age 30 they let him go. "Good catchers barely need to hit. See Sandy Leon." is right. Leon had all of 114 ABs in 2015 and was barely playing in 2016 and then something happened where he got a chance - I can't recall if it was an injury or not, but he got some ABs and had the hot streak of his life which enabled him to be the 2nd half regular catcher and bought him more opportunities to play to prove that he could hit some, but he couldn't which is why the guy hardly had more than 250 ABs in a season. As a refresher on the Sandy Léon experience... 2015: In camp, Vázquez tears his UCL and needs TJS. A week before opening day, Red Sox trade cash to Washington for high minors depth catcher Léon, who begins the year as Ryan Hanigan's backup (Did you forget he played for the Red Sox, never mind opened the year as their starting catcher? Me too!). From April 10 until July 10, he hits .180/.247/.191 in 103 PA. On May 2, Hanigan goes on the IL and Blake Swihart comes up. In July 2 they activate Hanigan and Swihart goes on the IL the next day with a sprained foot. When Swihart comes off a rehab assignment on July 20, Léon gets DFA. He gets outrighted and comes back as the third catcher in September. After the WS, they sign him to a one-year deal and outright him to Pawtucket. 2016: Red Sox begin the year with Swihart and Hanigan, then panic 11 days in and swap Swihart and Vázquez, who was "rehabbing" and apparently did so super fast yay (get me started on the Blake Swihart thing sometime, it's a blast). On June 5, Hanigan and Swihart (after hurting himself in LF) go on the IL the same day. Léon is the next guy up. When Hanigan comes back Vázquez gets optioned. Things get bad enough that they claim Bryan Holiday off waivers in August when Hanigan heads back to the IL. Meanwhile our dude Sandy hits .310/.369/.476 in 283 PA, and Hanigan and Vázquez don't come back from IL/AAA until September. He won't come close to this kind of production ever again but it sets up a real question of what the hell the Sox are to do in 2017 at catcher between him and Vázquez, and maybe Swihart. 2017: Léon and Vázquez split PT at catcher, down to splitting the 4 starts in the ALDS. Léon his a poor-but-livable-for-the-backup-catcher .225/.290/.354 though and any questions of whether his 2016 was legit are gone. 2018: Vázquez is the primary catcher, with Léon getting decent run too as a reliable backup, but definitely his backup. Léon has 12 more starts than Vázquez but that's because Vázquez misses 2 months with a fractured pinky. They split time in the postseason though. He hits just .177/.232/.279, raising the question of what his future with the club is. 2019: Léon, in something of a light surprise, is not only outrighted during camp but clears waivers - again, nobody claimed him. In mid-April he comes right back when the Red Sox DFA Blake Swihart weeks after committing to him yet again. He sticks the rest of the year as the backup but again hits just .192/.251/.297. After the season, he is traded to Cleveland for Adenys Bautista who had just spent his age 20 season getting torched in the GCL. He spent 2022 in the FCL and barely pitched. Must be a nice guy. So the takeaway is that Léon did only win a job as anything more than the 3rd or 4th catching option by raking in 2016 when everyone else got hurt. He split the starting playing time while Vázquez figured out the majors but once he stopped hitting, he was never more than a decent backup who got playing time because he handled the staff well and catching is super scarce. Again, by 2019 he was a guy who cleared waivers and you wonder if a more creative GM than Dombrowski would've found a better option like Bloom did almost immediately after being hired.
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Post by jimoh on Feb 20, 2022 19:33:14 GMT -5
Leon had all of 114 ABs in 2015 and was barely playing in 2016 and then something happened where he got a chance - I can't recall if it was an injury or not, but he got some ABs and had the hot streak of his life which enabled him to be the 2nd half regular catcher and bought him more opportunities to play to prove that he could hit some, but he couldn't which is why the guy hardly had more than 250 ABs in a season. As a refresher on the Sandy Léon experience... 2015: In camp, Vázquez tears his UCL and needs TJS. A week before opening day, Red Sox trade cash to Washington for high minors depth catcher Léon, who begins the year as Ryan Hanigan's backup (Did you forget he played for the Red Sox, never mind opened the year as their starting catcher? Me too!). From April 10 until July 10, he hits .180/.247/.191 in 103 PA. On May 2, Hanigan goes on the IL and Blake Swihart comes up. In July 2 they activate Hanigan and Swihart goes on the IL the next day with a sprained foot. When Swihart comes off a rehab assignment on July 20, Léon gets DFA. He gets outrighted and comes back as the third catcher in September. After the WS, they sign him to a one-year deal and outright him to Pawtucket. 2016: Red Sox begin the year with Swihart and Hanigan, then panic 11 days in and swap Swihart and Vázquez, who was "rehabbing" and apparently did so super fast yay (get me started on the Blake Swihart thing sometime, it's a blast). On June 5, Hanigan and Swihart (after hurting himself in LF) go on the IL the same day. Léon is the next guy up. When Hanigan comes back Vázquez gets optioned. Things get bad enough that they claim Bryan Holiday off waivers in August when Hanigan heads back to the IL. Meanwhile our dude Sandy hits .310/.369/.476 in 283 PA, and Hanigan and Vázquez don't come back from IL/AAA until September. He won't come close to this kind of production ever again but it sets up a real question of what the hell the Sox are to do in 2017 at catcher between him and Vázquez, and maybe Swihart. 2017: Léon and Vázquez split PT at catcher, down to splitting the 4 starts in the ALDS. Léon his a poor-but-livable-for-the-backup-catcher .225/.290/.354 though and any questions of whether his 2016 was legit are gone. 2018: Vázquez is the primary catcher, with Léon getting decent run too as a reliable backup, but definitely his backup. Léon has 12 more starts than Vázquez but that's because Vázquez misses 2 months with a fractured pinky. They split time in the postseason though. He hits just .177/.232/.279, raising the question of what his future with the club is. 2019: Léon, in something of a light surprise, is not only outrighted during camp but clears waivers - again, nobody claimed him. In mid-April he comes right back when the Red Sox DFA Blake Swihart weeks after committing to him yet again. He sticks the rest of the year as the backup but again hits just .192/.251/.297. After the season, he is traded to Cleveland for Adenys Bautista who had just spent his age 20 season getting torched in the GCL. He spent 2022 in the FCL and barely pitched. Must be a nice guy. So the takeaway is that Léon did only win a job as anything more than the 3rd or 4th catching option by raking in 2016 when everyone else got hurt. He split the starting playing time while Vázquez figured out the majors but once he stopped hitting, he was never more than a decent backup who got playing time because he handled the staff well and catching is super scarce. Again, by 2019 he was a guy who cleared waivers and you wonder if a more creative GM than Dombrowski would've found a better option like Bloom did almost immediately after being hired. That's a great summary of Leon's offensive ups and downs (mostly downs) but says not much about how the pitchers felt about him. From 8/16/2018: “People look at numbers and stats and all these things, but you don’t really look at how he really commands the staff and calls a game,” Sale said. “I mean, I put every bit of faith and trust in him."... "That trust in Leon resonates throughout the pitching staff. The Easter egg in the Sox’ major league-leading record is the fact they’ve lost only once in the last 18 times Leon has been behind the plate and have won 28 of the 30 times he’s caught since June 21."... “No disrespect to any other catcher I’ve thrown to, but he’s the best catcher I’ve ever thrown to,” Porcello said. “His game-calling, he’s prepared for every start, for every pitcher, starting or bullpen. He’s kind of the heartbeat of our pitching staff. We rely on him a lot. He’s always on point, he always knows what pitches to throw. Gives guys different looks. He’s as good as it gets as a game-caller and a catcher.”
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