With Jason Varitek aging and Victor Martinez leaving before the 2011 season, the Red Sox’s catcher position was uncertain. In 2011, they’ve gotten a pleasant resurgence from an aging Varitek and a surprisingly solid performance from Jarrod Saltalamacchia, but Varitek’s end is relatively near and Saltalamacchia may not be a long-term answer for a team with annual championship aspirations.
Fortunately, Ryan Lavarnway may wind up solving this semi-problem.
Lavarnway entered the 2011 season as a medium-grade offense-oriented catcher prospect after hitting .288/.393/.489 across two levels last season at age 23. There were questions of how well that would translate to higher levels, and whether he would be able to stay behind the plate long-term, but the Yale alum seems to have answered both questions for the affirmative this year.
He hit .284/.364/.510 in Double-A before really heating up with a promotion to Triple-A, batting .343/.414/.646 in 26 games thus far. He’s spent a lot of time at DH this season, but has caught 35% of attempted basestealers and allowed just four passed balls in 39 games behind the plate, which should be adequate enough for him to be an acceptable major league defensive catcher, if not a stellar one.
Lavarnway turns 24 next month, and he seems to be more or less just awaiting a call-up to Boston to prove himself offensively. He could probably use more consistent and extended time behind the plate to work on his defense, but look on the bright side–his knees have less mileage on them than those of most catchers his age, which will pay off if he’s to be a long-term asset as a starter for Boston.
With success at every stop of the minors, Lavarnway looks like he could be a very impressive big league catcher. His progress has been fantastic, and he’s far exceeded the expectations of him as a sixth-round draft pick in 2008. While big-market teams are often hesitant to turn over starting jobs to non-elite homegrown players, Lavarnway deserves a good run with the Red Sox, or at least a trade to a team that can commit to him behind the plate.