With Christian Vazquez out, Blake Swihart gets a shot

BOSTON - Christian Vazquez’ broken right pinky is forcing the Red Sox’ hand in their year-long quest to find out whether Blake Swihart is more than just a 25th man.

Vazquez is supposed to have surgery Tuesday to have a pin inserted in that injured finger, a procedure that will put his recovery time at six to eight weeks,  longer than the team had originally thought. For Swihart, once Boston’s catcher of the future, then a candidate for release before Boston’s stunning dismissal of Hanley Ramirez, the future is now,  again.

“There’s a reason Blake’s been on the roster throughout the season,” Alex Cora said. “We tried to use him early in the season but it didn’t work out as far as game time, and we’ve got to make sure we keep Sandy (Leon) fresh. We’re not going to run him out there six, seven days in a row.”

Swihart had initially been penciled in as Monday night’s starting catcher by Cora, but the manager changed his mind so Leon would not be making four straight starts. Now, Swihart will start Tuesday'’s game behind the plate.

Swihart has seen little action so far this season and made only one start at catcher to date. The key to him resurrecting his reputation as a big leaguer?

“Not try to impress us,” Cora said. “We trust him. I feel that offensively, that’s what he tried to do. Whenever he got his time to play he was trying to get four hits every time at bat. You can’t do that.”

Facing Gallardo: The Rangers will start Yovani Gallardo on Tuesday night, and the Red Sox did not know who would pitch for them before Monday night’s game got underway. The most likely candidate was Hector Velaquez, but it all depended on whether he was used in relief.

Velazquez made two starts in April and was 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA in those games. Gallardo is 3-0 with an 8.17 earned run average, but that hideous number is not as bad if his brief and ugly experience in Cincinnati is discounted. With Texas, Gallardo is 3-0, 5.87 in four starts.

Betts to center: Jackie Bradley Jr. got a break and was not in the starting lineup, so Cora went with Mookie Betts in center field and J.D. Martinez in right. It was Martinez’ 10th start of the season out there, third in Fenway Park.

“In spring training,” Cora said, “I said I was gonna stay with Mookie in right field and not use J.D. in right field, but the more we see him playing the outfield the more comfortable we are. We ran it through the analytic department and this is a good outfield alignment.”

Numbers game: It was bad enough that Tyler Thornburg had to endure a recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome to finally make an appearance in a Red Sox uniform. Then, when he did, the reliever was saddled with a bad pitcher’s number — 47.

That had been Travis Shaw’s number, the man he was traded for.

Bruce Hurst did it proud with nine fine seasons with the Sox and Rob Murphy, another lefty, had two solid seasons in Boston, and Mike Gardiner once won a 19-inning game in Cleveland. Otherwise, here’s the list of pitchers wearing 47:  Tom Murphy, Bill MacLeod, Steve Woodard, Sun-Woo Kim, Rod Beck, Toby Borland, Justin Germano, Zach Stewart and the unfortunate Bobby Sprowl of 1978 Boston Massacre fame.

Terry Francona had No. 47 for all his eight memorable years as manager, so that has helped salvage the reputation of an otherwise forgettable number.

Around the bases: Xander Bogaerts was named American League Player of the Week. He was 6 for 18 (.333) with 6 runs, 10 RBIs, 8 walks, 2 doubles and 2 home runs. Those 8 walks came in a four-game span and were as many as he had in his previous 19 games. … The team spent a lot of time Monday meeting about the perplexing case of Dustin Pedroia’s sore left knee. “We should have a plan (Tuesday),” Cora said. … Drew Pomeranz is scheduled for at least one more rehab start and that should be Friday. … Martinez’ 27 home runs to date are three more than Betts hit all of last year to lead the team in that category.