Ryan Lavarnway - Copyright Kelly O'Conner, sittingstill.net
At face value, it appears catcher Ryan Lavarnway is flying well below the proverbial radar screen when he has a bat in his hand this season.
Through his first 41 games, Lavarnway was hitting .268 with two doubles and three home runs plus 17 RBI.
A year ago, in his Triple-A rookie season, the Pawtucket Red Sox’ backstop played in 61 games, hit .370 with 18 doubles, 18 homers and 55 RBI. But instead of making excuses, PawSox manager Arnie Beyeler served up a dose of reality when analyzing Lavarnway’s performance.
“He’s in a different role this year,” said Beyeler. “I think (his hitting) has more to do with it than anything. He’s the every-day catcher now and he’s never been the every-day catcher before. He’s always been a guy that’s split time with people (in his previous four seasons, Lavarnway caught in only 191 of 370 games). The numbers that he threw up when he came here last year were ridiculous. He was on fire for two months. We see guys come up and hit for a week or two weeks or a month. But he tore up this league for two months.
“Now, this year starting out he’s got a lot to live up to,” continued Beyeler. “But since he’s the every-day catcher, he catches five days a week. That’s a lot more strain on your body and focus. I think that’s an adjustment for him. A lot of catchers go through that. You see that grind in the big leagues. There aren’t a lot of big offensive-oriented catchers in the big leagues and there’s a reason for that.”
In retrospect, going into this season hitting was the least of Boston’s concerns about Lavarnway. For the umpteenth time, he was trying to shed the label that his defense was behind his offense. Lavarnway, for his part, feels he’s in a comfort zone this year moreso than in the past.
“I’ve thrown well each of the last couple of years (his throw-out rate last season was 38 percent) so I think there was less room to improve in that aspect,” he said. “As far as calling a game and running a pitching staff on a day-to-day basis, now that I’m catching six days a week I feel a lot more comfortable running the whole staff. I get to know them a lot more by catching them almost every outing.
“I can take information, not only from the present day but also from past outings, and I can recognize patterns they’re going through. I can know what they need to hear and what little tweaks I can help them make to help them be at their best.”
One “tweak” Lavarnway’s made is noticeable to the average fan as well as baseball cognoscenti.
“One of the main things he’s developed is going to the mound and not giving in to the pitchers,” explained Beyeler. “A lot of times last year, he’d get drawn into doing what pitchers wanted to do. Then, we’d pay for it. (Pitching coach) Rich (Sauveur) puts together a pretty good plan for these guys every night. We talk about how we’re going to attack guys.
“As the speed of the game gets going, pitchers get wound up. The game speeds up on them and they want to do this and that. Lavarnway is a constant back there. He can come out and say ‘Hey, this is what’s been working. Let’s do this,’ instead of giving in and going with what the pitcher wants to do. Then, he comes back shaking his head knowing he knew we shouldn’t have done that.”
What that shows is Lavarnway has become a take-charge guy – a quarterback in catcher’s gear.
“That’s part of being a leader and pitchers gaining confidence in him,” said Beyeler. “He’s blocking two-strike breaking balls from (Brandon) Duckworth, (Doug) Mathis, (Justin) Germano and these older guys that throw these 63-foot breaking balls at times. They’re tough to block and he’s getting better at doing that.
“He’s a good defender. He catches the ball. He throws out guys that he’s supposed to throw out. He’s got a quick release. He’s very accurate. His arm’s not really as strong as you want to see but he’s accurate and throws out guys.
“You start looking at big league catchers and they miss balls and miss blocks and don’t throw out guys,” continued Beyeler. “I think it’s unfair because he’s been labeled as a guy whose defense has lagged behind his offense. All I’ve seen him do is catch balls and throw out guys. Have we seen guys that are great catchers and great throwers? Sure, we have. But they’re at the same point he is in their careers, too.”
Lavarnway is at another point in his career – one where there isn’t anybody in the upper levels of Boston’s farm system who’s on a par with him because the Red Sox traded Tim Federowicz and Luis Exposito.
“Tim and Luis are guys I played with the first three years of my careers,” said Lavarnway. “They’re very talented players. I appreciate the vote of confidence Boston has given me.”
Lavarnway appreciated the promotion he received from Boston late last season, when the Red Sox were struggling to remain in contention for a spot in the playoffs.
“It was a tough month to be up there and experience what we went through,” Lavarnway said referring to Boston’s September implosion. “But getting the opportunity to play in a big situation was a great opportunity. I think it was the most pressure I’ve ever played under.”
Lavarnway relieved some of the pressure that was on the Red Sox’ shoulders when he belted two home runs in the second-from-last game of the regular season.
“It’s tough to kind of describe,” he said. “Hitting those homers absolutely was a dream come true. Hopefully, it’ll be one of many dreams come true.”