When the Red Sox got the Blue Jays to allow John Farrell to move to Boston, the Jays got Mike Aviles, shipped David Carpenter to Boston, then moved Aviles and Yan Gomes to Cleveland for Esmil Rogers. Gomes is developing into one of the best defensive catchers in the American League, with, as one official says, “arguably the best release in the league (until Boston brings up Christian Vazquez).”
Boston tried to run Carpenter through waivers and lost him to Atlanta, where he has become one of the key setup men in the Braves’ astounding run. Carpenter, a converted catcher unwanted by the Astros analytics folks, has a 1.85 ERA and a 49-15 strikeout-walk ratio in 49 2/3 innings.
| G | IP | W | L | K | K/9 | BB/9 | K/BB | Opp. AVG | WHIP | HR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Carpenter | 31 | 43.1 | 3 | 0 | 49 | 10.10 | 3.09 | 3.27 | .204 | 1.053 | 2 |
As for Vazquez, who has climbed offensively to .280/.369/.395, one of his former Portland pitchers offers this: “Christian was always an awesome catcher who led every league in throwing out runners. But this year he’s really mastered game-calling. He used to get a gameplan and stick to it, but now he can react to each pitcher and situations. It’s amazing.” That may be in part because last winter Alex Cora connected Vazquez with Yadier Molina when Molina was home in Puerto Rico. Vazquez learned game-calling and watched video with the Cardinal superstar as he prepared for the WBC. Yadi may have been the only catcher who a month before spring training was studying video for the WBC.