Boston Red Sox: No coincidence team thrives when Sandy Leon starts
By Oliver Gold
The Boston Red Sox are 25-2 in Sandy Leon’s last 27 starts. Although Leon may not be a big contributor at the plate, Leon deserves credit for the team’s success when he starts.
The Boston Red Sox have been a better baseball team when Sandy Leon is the starting catcher.
Before Thursday’s loss to the Blue Jays, the Red Sox were 25-1 in Sandy Leon’s last 26 starts. Overall, the Red Sox are 40-15 when the catcher starts. That is good for a 72.7 win percentage compared to the team’s 67.7 win percentage when he does not start.
Leon is a sub-par offensive catcher who is probably the Red Sox worst hitter in the lineup. Leon is batting just .215 on the year with just four homers and 20 RBIs on the year in 61 games. The switch-hitter has not had much success offensively since his career began with the Red Sox in 2015, as he has hit just .243 with 18 homers and 97 RBIs in Boston.
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However, this includes a surprising 2016 season when Leon hit .310 with seven homers and 39 RBIs with the Red Sox.
However, it is not his bat that makes him such a valuable piece to this historic Boston Red Sox team. It is Leon’s baseball IQ and game-calling that has made him a key part to the team’s success.
Valuable asset behind the plate
Leon’s catcher ERA is 3.11, the best in the majors for catchers who have faced more than 2,000 batters. The remarkable Red Sox pitching staff obviously deserves a lot of credit for this statistic, but Leon’s game calling also deserves credit.
The Venezuelan is a terrific defensive catcher in general. This was shown on full display Tuesday when Leon made a sensational heads-up play to save a run. With the bases loaded and one away, Luke Maile hit a dribbler down the third-base line that would have probably rolled foul, but Leon picked up the ball and tagged the runner coming home to save a run. It was not the flashiest play but it was certainly a difficult and smart play to make.
Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora credited Leon’s baseball IQ after the game.
"“His baseball IQ is way up there,” Cora said. “The good thing about him is he’s willing to keep learning . . . He’s able to slow down the game. There’s not a big moment. The bigger the moment, he’s able to slow it down and think through the situation.”"
Leon has committed just one error on the year and has a 27.3% caught steal percentage.
This just shows that the 29-year-old has been a valuable backstop for the Boston Red Sox, and it makes up for his mediocre offensive statistics.
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It is no coincidence that the Sox have had so much success with Leon behind the plate. Leon should be the main catcher for the first place team in the AL East in the postseason.