Boston Red Sox bench crunch

The Risk for the Boston Red Sox 

Unfortunately, both Holt and Swihart carry some risk. Holt has struggled to recover from concussion and vertigo symptoms. He appears to be healthy this spring, but recurring issues from brain injuries are nearly impossible to predict. When healthy, Holt is about a league average bat who provides well above average defense at the corners of both the infield and the outfield and passable defense up the middle.

If he’s healthy, he’ll be with the team all season as that combination of value on both sides of the ball is rare. Most utility men tend to be well below average with the stick. Plus, BROCKHOLT! has become a thing in Red Sox Nation, and it would be a shame to see that come to an end so soon.

The other flexible guy on the bench is Blake Swihart; a strong bat providing a third catcher for emergencies while giving additional depth at first and in left is a luxury most teams don’t have. That 25th man on the roster is usually a glove-only player or a speedster who specializes in slap hits. Not Swihart, though. This is a kid who was drafted for his combination of athleticism and potential with the bat.

Thrust into the spotlight early, Swihart took some time to adjust to the jump from High-A to the majors in 2015. But his bat started coming around very quickly. The trend shown in this article continued through the end of the season where he posted a 127 wRC+ in August and September as a 23-year-old.

But, like with Holt, injury struck in 2016. The damage to his ankle was substantial, and the pain lingered through the end of last season. And like Holt, he appears to be healthy again this spring. The 2016 injury was a freak accident, so there is little reason to think that continuing to play left field in Fenway poses and substantial risk, but the rigors of everyday play may trigger inflammation. We won’t know until he’s out there regularly for longer than a month of spring games.

And there’s the argument that Blake may be more valuable to a team that can use him more often than the Red Sox can. The counterpoint to that is more about 2019 than 2018, as Swihart may be able to prove he’s worth putting behind the plate regularly again by the end of the year. The extension of Christian Vazquez also complicates that scenario.

In the meantime, however, he appears to be redundant and cannot be optioned.