Sandy Leon has worked his way to being Red Sox' No. 1 catcher

Rick Porcello couldn’t have offered a stronger endorsement.

The Red Sox right-hander’s feelings about catcher Sandy Leon were perfectly clear following his Tuesday start against the Phillies. Porcello was masterful over seven innings, helping Boston to a 2-1 victory at Citizens Bank Park. Leon was on the receiving end of another dominant pitching performance, and he extended a remarkable run of his own in the process.

"It’s no disrespect to any other [...]

Rick Porcello couldn’t have offered a stronger endorsement.

The Red Sox right-hander’s feelings about catcher Sandy Leon were perfectly clear following his Tuesday start against the Phillies. Porcello was masterful over seven innings, helping Boston to a 2-1 victory at Citizens Bank Park. Leon was on the receiving end of another dominant pitching performance, and he extended a remarkable run of his own in the process.

“It’s no disrespect to any other catcher I’ve thrown to, but he’s the best catcher I’ve ever thrown to,” Porcello said. “His game-calling — he’s prepared for every pitcher, starting or bullpen. He’s kind of the heartbeat of our pitching staff, and we rely on him a lot.”

Consider the gravity of Porcello’s statement. The Red Sox are committed to Christian Vazquez through at least 2021 thanks to a three-year deal he signed last offseason. Blake Swihart’s signing bonus was a new club record for a position player when he was drafted in 2011, and he’s arbitration eligible through 2023.

In terms of future security and pedigree, Leon has always been the outlier in Boston’s catching equation. All he's done since being designated for assignment midseason in 2015 is become the club’s most reliable backstop. The Red Sox are 28-3 in Leon’s last 31 starts, and it’s not too early to consider how Boston views the future at the position next season and beyond.

“This is a guy that in spring training, he showed up in great shape,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Tuesday. “Obviously Christian was playing a lot, and he didn’t complain. He kept working and the door opened up a little bit there, and now he’s playing great baseball.”

The logjam behind the plate has cost the Red Sox some roster flexibility during their record start, with Swihart out of minor league options and requesting a trade earlier this season while tethered to the bench. The situation sorted itself as the season played out, with Vazquez (fractured right pinkie) on the disabled list since July 8 and Swihart (right hamstring strain) having just been activated on Tuesday. Leon was still in the lineup for each game against Philadelphia, and Swihart is unlikely to be behind the plate any more than once or twice every five days.

Leon’s defensive numbers over the past three seasons support Porcello’s claim. Opposing hitters have posted a declining OPS with Leon behind the plate since 2016, going from .706 to .692 to .636 in 65 games this season. Batters also posted a .677 OPS in 2015 with Leon behind the plate, a significantly lower number than when pitchers worked with Swihart (.766) or Ryan Hanigan (.774).

“He’s always on point,” Porcello said. “He always knows what pitches to throw to give guys different looks. He’s as good as it gets as a game-caller and a catcher.”

As a prospect, Vazquez held the reputation as a defensive prodigy. He’s thrown out 41 percent of runners attempting to steal against him in the big leagues, but he was at just 31 percent this season (8-for-26). Opposing hitters have posted at least a .700 OPS in each of Vazquez’s last three seasons, and the strikeout-to-walk ratio of his pitchers has declined from 3.05 to 2.76 to 2.73.

Swihart still represents arguably the best offensive upside of the three. He’s certainly the most athletic, able to play multiple positions in the field and capable of morphing into a super-utility man in a pinch. Swihart's .712 OPS in 2015 came in 84 games as a 23-year-old, and his 11-game hitting streak before the injury this season saw Swihart raise his OPS almost 200 points from .441 to .613.

Boston appears to have three distinct options from which to choose going forward, and all three catchers would figure to have varying value on the offseason trade market. Leon is arbitration eligible through the 2020 season, which would make him the first of the group to be available in free agency. If Porcello’s opinion is the consensus among the Red Sox pitching staff and the club’s success extends through the postseason, Leon could prove difficult to dismiss.

“The Indians won 28 out of 30 last year, and I was watching,” Cora said. “I was like, ‘Shoot, they’re not going to lose.’ Then you see this with Sandy behind the plate and it feels that way when he goes out there.”