Boston Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon has surprised everyone in 2016.
If someone told you at the start of the season that Sandy Leon would be the best hitter in the Boston Red Sox‘ lineup in August, you probably would either have laughed or you would have asked, “Who’s Sandy Leon?”
Leon, who is a switch-hitting catcher, was born in Venezuela and started his career with the Washington Nationals. He was picked up by the Red Sox for cash considerations last March near the end of Spring Training. He was acquired solely because of an injury to starting catcher Christian Vazquez and he formed a tandem with Ryan Hanigan in 2015. Leon batted .184/.238/.202 with three RBI in 41 games as a backup for the Red Sox last season. This season, he is batting an astounding .383/.436/.652 with seven home runs and 24 RBI in 45 games. And lately, it seems like every time Leon steps up to plate, he delivers a big hit for the Red Sox.
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Leon hasn’t played in enough games or had enough plate appearances to be included in most offensive leaderboards—the majority of major league starters have over 450 plate appearances and Leon only has 158 to date—but Bill Baer of NBC Sports played with some numbers and when he filtered the Fangraphs leaderboards to at least 150 PAs, Leon led everyone in wRC+ (188), including former MVP Mike Trout (167) and his own teammate David Ortiz (164). He’s also the best offensive catcher in the majors when you filter plate appearances to 150.
That’s not bad for a guy who was acquired merely as insurance for injured starters. Now, Leon is Boston’s number one catcher and at 27 years-old, it looks like he’s finally found his groove. Leon won’t keep up this torrid pace, but he has developed into a much better hitter in 2016 and his performance could play a role in Boston’s battle for first place.
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The Red Sox currently find themselves right in the thick of the American League East race. They are only 1/2 game behind first-place Toronto and one game up on Baltimore for the first Wild Card spot. And when a team has the likes of David Ortiz, Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley and Xander Bogaerts hitting the ball well, it is an absolute luxury to have someone like Leon tattooing the ball every time he plays.