It looks like the Boston Red Sox catching situation will involve three catchers in the postseason.
This is what Alex Cora said on WEEI earlier in the week. He went on one of their shows (one of the ones where they talk smack about his team even though they have the best record in baseball) and made this clear. The team intends to carry Sandy Leon, Christian Vazquez and Blake Swihart on their playoff roster.
It's an interesting dynamic--especially since none of them are having particularly productive seasons from the offensive perspective. Sandy Leon is hitting under under .100 this month which ain't great. Christian Vazquez has been around the mendoza line (.200) all season and Swihart hasn't really played much, but he hasn't really been hitting since coming off the DL either.
What this really comes down to is by carrying three catchers, they can feel OK if they have to pinch hit for one of the guys. Say the bases are loaded and Leon is up, then Steve Pearce can come off the bench and crack a grand slam or something like that. From there, Vazquez can go into the game and if he were to get hurt (let's hope that never happens), then they have Blake Swihart. It's pretty much about having depth in case of an emergency. It's good strategy.
Also, in case you were wondering what these guys catcher ERAs' are, WEEI reported them earlier in the week. Leon was at 3.24, Vazquez was at 3.75 and Swihart was at 4.90. Obviously, they catch different pitchers but yeah, it explains why Leon is still on the team...
But yeah, playoff baseball should be exciting for the Red Sox. There has to be some confidence in this team even if there are concerns. They definitely have something special this year.