FredLynn

Leon is fat. Sorry for the political incorrectness of that, but its true. He is overweight (actually obese, by BMI calculations at 225/5-10 with a BMI of 32.3) and it will eventually affect his performance in terms of susceptibility to injury at the very least. It is beyond me how these highly paid players (some of whom are athletes) show up in camp in the kind of shape Leon did. He of course has a lot of company. I agree with Max.

Its a reflection of the fact that management had decided that Leon and Vasquez were going to be the catchers in the past. Its hard to really know if you are comfortable with someone else until you actually try it. You never know if you will like chocolate until you try it, do you. Look, I am not arguing that Leon was not a good defensive catcher that most if not all of the staff was comfortable with. What I am saying is that that fact does not exclude the possibility that they will also all be comfortable with Swihart catching. Of course, we will never know more than likely because no pitcher is going to throw his catcher under the bus. What I object to is the illogical arguement used by Harmony that the Sox staff likes Leon and therefore is uncomfortable with Swihart. Perhaps they are MORE comfortable with Leon (maybe because he is familiar to them) than Swihart; I could almost buy that. Lets see what the comments are as the season rolls on.....if there are issues with Swihart's defense, pitch framing, or game calling.

Here is what I wrote: "I doubt you will find a single Sox pitcher who would say that they are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate. However, if you have evidence that "the Red Sox pitching staff disagrees" this would be a good time to present it. " You have failed to show that the Sox pitchers are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate, instead showing proof of the obvious: that they are comfortable with Leon catching. The fact that they are comfortable with Leon does not exclude the possibility that they are also comfortable with Swihart catching. Your link is a non-sequitur. And your statement that the Sox pitching staff disagrees (with what, I might ask, do they disagree?) lacks proof or logic. But sure, I will await the judgement of other readers here.

Gosh. I looked at all of the words on those links and I could not find a single sentence where a single pitcher said that they are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate, which was what I wrote. I asked you for a link to indicate that anyone is uncomfortable with Swihart and you answered a different question. Care to try again? Fact is, no pitcher is going to bad mouth their receiver while they are still on the same team. Complimenting Leon (or Vasquez) does not mean that they do not also like throwing to Swihart. So your statement that the Sox pitching staff disagrees is unsupported. But I am a fair guy...I will give you another chance to provide a link to support your position. Please make it relevant this time.

So you, a Mariners fan, have appointed yourself to speak for the Red Sox pitching staff. I doubt you will find a single Sox pitcher who would say that they are uncomfortable with Swihart behind the plate. However, if you have evidence that "the Red Sox pitching staff disagrees" this would be a good time to present it. Link?

Actually Vasquez played much more in the postseason than Leon. And when DD announced that the team would not carry three catchers the handwriting was on the wall for Leon. Teams that win rings and hope to repeat have to improve, or try to improve wherever possible. I think that this represents that effort.

Wrong. If Swihart gets picked up we are stuck with Leon all year. No thanks.

Sandy Leon's time has passed; for him, "Winter is Coming". I will be very interested to see how Swihart does catching 40% or more of the games. I think he will do fine defensively and will be a much better hitter than either Leon or Vasquez. JMO....we shall see.

What evidence-besides the fact the Leon is helpless with a bat in his hands?

True, but its hard to establish oneself if you are not given the chance to do so.

He did say that. He also said its "the only thing".

Chris Sale contract extension with Red Sox WWW.MLB.COM FORT MYERS, Fla. -- When the Red Sox made a blockbuster trade with the White Sox for Chris Sale in December 2016, the only guarantee was that they'd have the powerful lefty for three seasons. The marriage between the ace pitcher and the defending World Series champions will extend far Hopefully the Sox included safeguards against the shoulder issues he has had recently. I do not particularly trust the Sox medical staff to accurately identify the nature of the problems he had last year.

He didn't reset because he knows that the core that won the championship last year is still here and poised to make another good playoff run if the pen holds up.

I think it has everything to do with Pedroia....how long has he had now to recover from his last surgery? A very long time. At some point you reach diminishing returns where further improvement and strength are less likely to happen. I have been pessimistic about him for a long time and this delay only reinforces that position.

He does make some unbelievable plays fielding the ball....but then often airmails it to 1B. He is likely to improve both in the field and at the plate, but until he does I am firmly in the camp of "show me".

Devers' problems have generally not been fielding the ball. The issue has been getting it to first base. I am not worried about him booting a ball today. I would be more worried if he consistently keeps airmailing the ball to first base.

14-1 loss today to the Yankees.....now 6-12 I believe. Not exactly going to enter the regular season with a full head of steam like last year, are we.

I am probably in the 80-90% range (watching games). Thats all I need to see that Devers is not yet mature as a hitter OR as a fielder. He may or may not take the next step. I admit that he has the potential to do so, but so do a lot of players.

Holograms perhaps? I don't think the game needs to be speeded up....its fine just the way it is. The other changes.....good moves.

I didn't say that he might not become a great hitter. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. I will tell you this with certainty: he won't be a great hitter until he learns the strike zone. And so far he hasn't proven that he has learned that lesson.

Nunez sucks defensively at any base, but since we were talking about 3B I used that as my example. As for Devers, I haven't been watching many ST games, but last year he had no concept of the strike zone. Unless he morphs into Vlad Guerrero or that changes he will never reach what many here call his "potential". So far I have seen no evidence of either.

Nunez is an adventure out there, especially at 3B. Maybe he can hit like LeMahieu, but as a defender....he sucks.

How do you define success? Return to the rotation? Performing as well or better than before TJS? The data from various studies is conflicting. Here is another one that purports to be "the largest analysis of MLB pitchers who have undergone TJS". The conclusion was that: "There is a significant proportion of players (18%) who do not resume major league career. For those that return, a high proportion return to the disabled list, both for arm conditions (in general) and specifically for elbow pain (47% and 23%, respectively). Moreover, many performance statistics showed a decline following surgery, most notably in ERA, WHIP, opposing batting average, innings pitched, percentage of fastballs thrown and fastball velocity." Here is the link: http://www.abstractsonline.com/plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?mID=3358&sKey=493a4472-e6c5-4acf-8c39-7588796fd6a5&cKey=543b49e3-0bf2-4bfe-a036-e3c30c12e41c&mKey=4393d428-d755-4a34-8a63-26b1b7a349a1

I doubt that there are any controlled studies to support the hypothesis that SS recover more quickly than pitchers. That said, since both positions are manned by humans with human ulnar collateral ligaments, my guess is that the healing time is similar where healing time means return to 100%. I believe that pitchers take about a year to regain their form (if they ever do-I remember reading somewhere that most guys who have the procedure never regain their velocity). So I would suspect that IF also need a full year. But thats just an unsupported guess. Just one article about a decline in performance post TJ surgery: https://www.drdavidgeier.com/tommy-john-surgery-pitching-suffers/

And Wright. He deserves to play in Baltimore.