Red Sox Catching Situation Murky After Emergence of Leon
By Blake Yagman
Sandy Leon will be the Red Sox “Catcher of the Future”… For now.
When current Red Sox starting catcher Sandy Leon was brought up through the Washington Nationals’ farm system, they coveted his defensive prowess. Leon, who signed with the Nationals at age 18 out of Maracaibo, Venezuela, probably never dreamt of the offensive tear he would one day contribute to one of baseball’s most storied franchises.
Today, the Red Sox announced that Sandy Leon will remain at catcher for the distant future; correspondingly, Christian Vasquez was sent back to Triple-A Pawtucket in hopes of finding whatever offensive Nirvana that Leon stumbled upon.
Through Leon’s first 15 games with the Red Sox, he is hitting a mind-numbling .500 through 40 at-bats, with 1 homer and 9 RBI. Leon, who will now be backed up by former starter Ryan Hanigan, could stick around for at least the remainder of the season, as his new offensive development has made Vasquez expendable.
Sandy Leon’s ascent to the Red Sox starting catcher position is extremely impressive. Coming into this season, he was arguably the fourth or fifth catcher on the organizational depth chart. However, Vasquez’ bat never made the trip north from Fort Myers, Blake Swihart was inexplicably moved to left field and subsequently injured (where his understandable inexperience, especially in the most difficult left field in all of baseball to play, likely lead to a savage ankle injury), and Ryan Hanigan suffered a concussion (because Stephen Wright’s knuckleball causes whiplash for everyone involved). The switch-hitting Leon had made a previous appearance in Boston last year with the Sox (hitting .184 over 114 at-bats) which contributed to his being buried on the roster.
What is also interesting about this decision is the affect on the pitching staff. While Leon has been hailed as a highly-intelligent ‘game-caller’ by pitching coach Carl Willis, the same moniker was applied to Christian Vasquez. Yet Vasquez, who was crowned the champion of pitch framing by the Red Sox organization, didn’t necessarily lead some rebirth of the pitching staff as predicted by the team. This, aside from being frustrating, cuts further in the direction that this Red Sox front office has yet to develop a firm plan for the pitching staff.
Perhaps Leon symbolizes the Red Sox willingness to move on from stubborn, unsuccessful strategies; or, perhaps it suggests a rift within the thinking of the organization between the front office and the coaching staff. After this season’s talent evaluation mess, who knows.
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