Red Sox catcher Tyler Heineman impresses at the plate on Monday; Kutter Crawford debuts on Tuesday
The Red Sox have competition for the backup catcher spot on the 26-man roster. Veteran catcher Tyler Heineman collected two hits in the Red Sox 7-6 win over the Phillies from JetBlue Park on Monday afternoon.
Heineman is one of a handful of catcher that the Red Sox have brought into camp to create competition with current backup Reese McGuire.
The 32-year-old was acquired from the Mets in early February for cash considerations. He has 104 career major league games under his belt spent over parts of four seasons with the Marlins, Giatns, Blue Jays and Pirates.
Heineman comes into camp competing with Roberto Perez, Mark Kolozsvary and Mickey Gasper. The California native is considered to be an above-average defender, offering the opportunity to help mentor the young hurlers that will be in Worcester this coming season providing he does not make the team.
Kutter Crawford starts on Tuesday versus the Cardinals
The competition for the final two spots of the Red Sox rotation are underway. Kutter Crawford will make his first start of the spring on Tuesday against the Cardinals.
Last week Alex Cora told reporters that Crawford has the edge to land one of the final spots in the rotation.
This offseason, the right focused on getting bigger and physically stronger to improve his stamina on the mound.
“He looks better physically, stronger,” Cora said of Crawford to reporters on Monday. “A little bigger. Sometimes, that’s what it takes. You get a little bit bigger and get the stamina up and you can go six innings. If you look at the numbers from pitch 75-85, his stuff went down very quickly. The numbers tell us the whole story; the stuff went down. So that’s more about the physical part of it. I don’t think it’s execution. The velocity of the fastball (went) down and when that happens, everything blends together. We’re trying for him to hopefully maintain his stuff.
“You look at the numbers, the fastball quality, the breaking ball...all that stuff is really good. Now, we’ve just gotta take that next step. We’re not talking about six more outs; we’re talking about two or three. He should be able to do that.”
Pitchers expected to pitch on Tuesday for the Red Sox
- Brandon Walter
- Isaiah Campbell
- Justin Slaten
- Helcris Olivarez
- Justin Hagenman
Olivarez made his spring debut in an exhibition game against Northeastern University. The lefty wasn’t sharp, but he showed off a hard fastball and why the Red Sox like his stuff on the bump.
He was unable to get out of the inning, throwing 29 pitches and allowing one run on one hit with a walk. The hard throwing lefty didn’t help his cause in the inning when he threw away the ball trying to pick off a runner and hitting a batter.
“It was good for him to get out there and compete, he’s been hurt, he hasn’t competed the last two years,” Alex Cora said after the 7-2 win over the Huskies. “Although it didn’t go the way he wanted to, that feeling of going out there to prepare for the start and being able to have fun, that was good.”
The tall and athletic southpaw offers a three-pitch mix on the mound, a fastball that sits between 93-97 mph, his fastball can touch 100 mph, a curveball and changeup. His curveball misses bats offering solid spin and movement. Olivarez changeup is the weaker of his three pitches, fringe at best.
