Jitters?
“My first at-bat I had a few butterflies, but I was all right,’’ he said. “I got into the pace of the game and the spirit of the game. I was able to speak to Big Papi on the bench about DHing and what he does, so that was helpful.’’
Oh, the big kid from Yale with the nice home run swing may bounce back to Triple A, but the astute scouts who watched in the minors think he’ll be a legitimate power threat in the major leagues.
I joked with colleague Pete Abraham that Lavarnway resembles, at least facially, a young Carlton Fisk. He’s also about 6 feet 4 inches, big and strong like Fisk, but I promised Abraham I would stop there.
As a receiver, Lavarnway has a lot of work to do, but what young catcher doesn’t?
He is often compared with Texas backstop Mike Napoli, a strong righthanded hitter who has power but was cast as a below-average receiver. With the Angels, Napoli had to overcome playing second fiddle to Jeff Mathis as a receiver, and manager Mike Scioscia didn’t make it easy on Napoli. With Texas, Napoli had, for a long time this season, the lowest catcher ERA in baseball.
Lavarnway, a converted outfielder, said he has a passion for catching and wants to get better. His work ethic is as solid as his brain power, which is very good, given his Yale pedigree. He can absorb instruction, and he understands setting up hitters. What he has to improve on is physically doing the things that he knows mentally, if that makes any sense.
A little tutelage from Gary Tuck, a little exposure to Jason Varitek, and Lavarnway could make big strides, much as Jarrod Saltalamacchia has this season. Suffice to say, unless he missteps big time, he is destined to be the Sox’ starting catcher in a year, maybe two. He simply hits too well for that not to happen.
This is the perfect storm for Lavarnway. David Ortiz has right heel bursitis and Youkilis needed to be shut down with a back strain. The Sox offense is going through its worst stretch of the season, void of power and production and runs.
Are they asking a kid to provide that? Not really, but a bit of youthful energy is always welcome, and Lavarnway has provided that and more in his stints at Portland and Pawtucket.
