Boston Red Sox have a very serious catcher problem
This Boston Red Sox team is off to a very sub-par start to the season, posting a 5-6 record through 11 games. Their pitching staff hasn’t been amazing, their lineup isn’t producing, and defensively, they’re a wreck at multiple positions.
Boston Red Sox are currently second in the league with nine errors in the field
One of the positions of struggle, is arguably the most important position; catcher.
So far, the Sox have used a platoon style for the position, alternating between Reese McGuire and Connor Wong. Both catchers have their strengths, but they both defiantly have their weaknesses.
Let’s start with McGuire:
After being traded to the Boston Red Sox last year at the trade deadline, McGuire has impressed mostly offensively. He’s swinging the bat great this season so far, posting a .400/.438/1.038. While he’s been impressive offensively, defensively is where he struggles.
So far in this young season, runners are 16/16 when stealing while McGuire is behind the dish. Not a great look. While that may not be 100 percent on McGuire because of pitchers taking maybe a little too long to deliver the ball, it’s still mostly on him.
Next, Connor Wong:
Offensively, Wong has looked horrendous this season with bad swings and misses as well as six strikeouts, including two last game in the Red Sox loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
As being one of the main pieces of the Mookie Betts trade, Boston is looking for a bit more than a .120/.154/.354 split. Last season, Wong hit a rocket over the Monster for his first career homer and it showed a glimpse of what he has to offer, but he can’t seem to make it connect this season through eight games.
Defensively is a different story. Two base runners caught stealing, which may not seem like a lot, is very important since McGuire continues to allow runners to nag bags when he’s there. The arm on Wong is legit and if he can improve even just a little bit offensively, it’ll be a huge swing for the Sox’s catcher position.
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With each catcher having inverse strengths and weaknesses, it’s hard to determine who should be the “go-to” catcher for the better portion of Boston’s season.
Should Wong continue to struggle offensively, Boston could look to send him back down to Worcester and call up catcher Jorge Alfaro.
Though Alfaro is a significant downgrade defensively, he could provide the spark this Red Sox team needs, batting .355/.375/.516 with the WooSox.
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A career .256 hitter, Alfaro impressed many Boston Red Sox fans with a .478 average in Spring Training, blasting out two homers with his stint with the Sox pre- and post- World Baseball Classic.
Yes, I know that’s Spring Training which doesn’t count, but since Boston has been struggling in all aspects of the game recently, it’s interesting to consider the possibility of an Alfaro callup.