For most MLB teams, losing their starting catcher to a long-term injury would be a huge blow, but not the 2018 Red Sox.
Prior to Monday's game against the Rangers, manager Alex Cora announced Christian Vazquez will need surgery on his broken pinky and it's expected he will miss 6-8 weeks. Unlike most clubs if they were to be put in the same position, the Red Sox will be just fine.
Sandy Leon will now slide into the everyday catcher's role with Blake Swihart giving him a rest one or two days a week.
Leon entered Monday playing in 41 games and batting .250 this season and then went 1-for-3 in the 5-0 win over the Rangers. It was the Red Sox' seventh straight win.
(Click here for a complete game recap.)
Sure, it's not the greatest of situations, but Vazquez was only hitting .213 in 60 games. It's not like the combination of Leon/Swihart has to make up a lot of offensive production. In addition, going into Monday, pitchers have a better ERA throwing to Leon (3.16) than to Vazquez (3.76). It is worth pointing out that Vazquez has caught just under 200 more innings than Leon has, and he has caught the majority of Chris Sale starts.
Swihart, who has somehow stayed on the roster to this point in the year, is only hitting .185 in 81 at-bats, but perhaps the increased playing time will benefit him and allow him to get into more of a rhythm at the plate. The switch-hitter is a career .255 hitter so he's certainly proved he can hit better than he has to this point in the year.
Protecting themselves in the case of injury was one of the biggest reasons for the team to keep Swihart around and now it will pay off.
"He's been working hard blocking and throwing," Cora said to reporters before the game. "He prepares like Christian and Sandy. We're not going to hesitate. He's going to play. We're in a good spot. We're going to miss Christian, of course. He's the next guy and he's been with us the whole season. he knows what we want from them. He knows what we do on the mound. We'll be OK."
With the trade deadline less than a month away, of course the Red Sox could potentially try and swing a trade for a proven catcher, but if everything goes according to plan Vazquez should be able to return to action by the end of August. Why make a trade for a player who only has real value for about a month? There are far more pressing needs on the roster.
Part of the conversation also has to be the Red Sox' place in the standings.
Right now they have the best record in baseball and would have to have a historic collapse to not at least be part of the Wild Card game. It isn't like they are behind in the standings and need to make a late season push. If that were the case then maybe an upgrade at catcher would be needed, but not now.
The schedule also isn't tremendously demanding, either. Through the end of August the Red Sox only play the Yankees once and have a number of games against the rest of the mediocre AL East.
The quick reaction to the Vazquez news on Monday would be to scour the catching market in advance of the deadline and work on a trade, but based on a variety of factors the Red Sox don't need to and will be just fine until he returns.
Steve Pearce homered in the game, his first as a Red Sox, and he now has seven homers in 20 career games against the Rangers.
