Catcher Swihart honing pitch-calling, game management skills

At one time, the Red Sox felt Triple A was the perfect place to impress upon the finer points of game management to up-and-coming catchers. 

The organization changed its philosophy shorted after drafting Blake Swihart in 2011. Now the art of calling pitches and understanding opposing hitters' tendencies gets started at the lower levels.

"Blake came in at a good time. Now we start with these guys as early as their second year. Their first year, we allow them to come in and get accustomed to the program, then we can hone in on things that are going to matter down the road," said Epperson while sitting in the PawSox dugout Wednesday morning. "They're fortunate enough that we're introducing things to them earlier and you can also look at it as unfortunate that they have more on their plate that they have to be responsible for.

"When you go from Triple A to the majors, there's huge scouting reports on the opposition. We don't always have the means for that, no matter if you're in Triple A or the Gulf Coast League," Epperson added. "I think for the catchers coming in now … being behind the plate is such a demanding job and we can find out about them by giving them information to see if they can handle it or not. You don't want to wait until Triple A to give them their cherry on the cake. We want to put that cherry on the cake right away and just continue to make the cake."

Epperson pointed to the batter's box when asked to explain in laymen's terms what exactly game calling entails. 

"It's about reading that guy's swings at the plate. He's an open book, so are we reading the book or are we flipping through the pages?" Epperson said. "If the hitter is showing that they can't catch up to this young man's fastball ... it's also about knowing the pitcher's strengths."

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Usually when a catcher gets to Triple A, he's introduced to pitchers who have big-league service time under their belts. With Pawtucket's pitching staff featuring a number of 20-somethings that Swihart has simultaneously come through the system with, it made the time the 23-year-old spent in big-league camp an invaluable experience. 

Case in point, Christian Vazquez was able to slide right in when Boston called him up last summer in large point because he used spring training as a chance to make in-roads with the John Lackeys of the world. After a July 2014 start at Houston, Lackey told the Boston media that Vazquez "executed the game-plan we talked about before hand."

Epperson expressed that the Red Sox would like to keep Swihart stationed in Pawtucket in order for the highly touted youngster "to continue to get his reps." Translation: the front office would like to see how Swihart's game-management skills translate to the few veteran PawSox pitchers that are currently on the roster.   

"This is a very young and in-house pitching core that he's had great experience with, so there's that awesome bond that obviously helps," said Epperson. "I think it's important for Blake to deal with some of the relievers he may not know as well, guys like Tommy Layne and Heath Hembree."

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Epperson noted that Swihart checked off all the appropriate game-calling boxes Tuesday night when he was behind the plate for Brian Johnson's seven shutout innings. 

"It was, 'Hey, we're not going to miss bats, we're going to miss barrels and get these guys on some defensive swings,'" Epperson said. "It's important not to show any pattern to any hitter. We can't be afraid to come here or there or throw this pitch in a particular count." 

Again, the ability to get on the same page with that night's starting pitcher begins with making sure to be attentive to the scouting information that's provided. Toward that end, Epperson has noted Swihart become more vocal and assertive in the pitchers' meetings that are held prior to the first game of a new series.

"He's been challenged with that. If he's going to lead back here," said Epperson, again pointing in the direction of the plate, "he's got make sure that the guy on the bump is pitching with conviction. That starts with the side sessions and the meetings and continues on to the games."

The other day, manager Kevin Boles - a former catcher himself - noted that Swihart "has taken in a lot of information and done well." It was a reminder that Swihart's education of what the Red Sox expect of their backstops should they reach Fenway Park did not officially commence when he was promoted to Pawtucket last August. Rather, his time brief time with the PawSox has merely allowed the prospect a chance to only build on a base that was established long before arriving at McCoy's front door.