Catcher/outfielder Blake Swihart went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Reno, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports (via Twitter).
Swihart, 27, has enough service time that he could’ve rejected the assignment, but doing so would’ve meant forfeiting the remainder of this season’s $910K big league salary. He’ll now remain with the Diamondbacks through season’s end, but he’ll quite likely elect free agency this offseason, as is his right as a player with three-plus years of service who has been outrighted off the 40-man roster.
It wasn’t long ago that Swihart was widely considered to be among the game’s elite prospects. Prior to the 2015 season, each of MLB.com, Baseball America, Baseball Prospectus and ESPN ranked him among the game’s top 20 overall farmhands — hardly a surprise given his status as a former first-round pick who hit .293/.341/.469 in 110 games between Double-A and Triple-A as a 22-year-old in 2014.
Swihart’s bat didn’t impress much in his 2015 MLB debut, however, as he batted just .274/.319/.392 through 309 trips to the plate. More concerning, though, were the escalating questions about his defensive abilities (or lack thereof) behind the dish. The Red Sox organization began playing Swihart in left field and at first base, but he continued to work with coaches and instructors to hone his defensive chops at catcher.
Unfortunately, those concerns never really dissipated, and his sparse use in 2018 surely didn’t help matters. The Red Sox were loath to lose Swihart, who was at that point out of minor league options, but they were also reluctant to commit to him as a regular catching option. As such, Boston carried both Christian Vazquez and light-hitting Sandy Leon to open the 2018 campaign, relegating Swihart to a seldom-used third catcher and infielder/outfielder. Swihart received virtually no playing time early in the season and had tallied fewer than 100 plate appearances by the time the All-Star break rolled around. That the Red Sox effectively played the 2018 season with a 24-man roster makes last year’s World Series win all the more impressive, but Swihart’s nonexistent role surely didn’t do him any favors.
With Arizona, Swihart was used exclusively as a corner outfielder and first baseman, tallying just 70 trips to the plate over the life of 31 games in a similarly minimal role. The fact that he went unclaimed on waivers when he’s earning less than $1MM and could’ve been controlled through the 2022 season via arbitration doesn’t bode well for his chances of landing a big league contract this winter. For now, though, he’ll try to open some eyes at Triple-A in an effort to work his way back onto the Diamondbacks’ 40-man roster before season’s end.
good to hold onto him. perhaps he will figure it out with some more time in the minors. never really got the chance with injuries in the past.
This guy has had more chances than most.
Seriously, so overrated. He’s a turd.
Still better than you!
32 years ago, I was better, but still not MLB worthy.
He pretty much nothing to warrant his massive, massive prospect hype other than being Boston’s #1 prospect when the big league team was winning. He’s never put up numbers, even once, his best minor league OPS is .810, but you’d think he was the next Trout the way the media has lauded him, for almost no reason.
It’s the catcher issue.
If he were an OF at the time his status would have been quite different. Being a catcher who hit like that at such a young age was what catapulted him into future star range.
He’s not the only catcher this has happened to. In fact, he’s not even the only one currently in that division
The fact that teams are playing him in the of and 1b tells me enough that he’s as much a catcher as the great Peter O’Brien is.
Yes. And now that he is no longer seen as a catcher, he no longer carries anywhere near the value of his old prospect status
When he was coming up however, the belief was he would likely be able to stay behind the dish. That is what created his value; that age, that bat, that specific position where offense is near impossible to find
Most people tend to forget his issues catching were handling the knuckleballer. He was given very few chances else where. I’ve seen Leon, and Vasquez not doing so well either. He is a switch hitter which Vora for some reason only batted him right handed last year for a very long time which he did very poorly.. much better lefty wise. Kid has had a very tough time growing up… and I wish him well after going thru the injury issues
Exactly, he had decent speed too. He was a guy that projected at maybe hitting.280 with 15 homers and 10 steals a year. As a catcher that’s more than decent.
I’d even throw Wilin Rosario in that conversation too
Yes, Rosairo is another perfect example.
Top 30-40 prospect as a catcher.
Designated, goes unclaimed and ends up overseas because of a lack of interest by the time he was 27 as a 1B
Exactly. The bat never really played anywhere else, but the flexibility was nice, and he is athletic. So he was seen as the ultimate utility guy. It probably didn’t help his career much.
You say that but have you seen Florials #s absolute garbage and yet he’s a top 100 prospect
Prospect list writers love the Yankees, Mets and Red Sox too. Beware all their prospects, always.
Florial is loved by prospect watchers because of his tools and athletic ability, not because of performance. Read any decent write-up on the kid and that’s exactly what it says. Tons of potential IF he can ever put it all together on the field and translate it into actual performance.
I think given enough opportunity he is a decent hitter for a catcher but he isn’t good enough to warrant playing his glove at C (like Napoli or vmart back then who were butchers but could really hit).
He probably is about a league average bat and at 1b or a bad corner OF that doesn’t really play well and it isn’t good enough either to overlook his glove at C.
You think wrong. He is not even a decent hitter. 75 career OPS+ and this season a 17 OPS+ for the Dbacks. Maybe he can inflate his stats in the PCL with Reno and deceive some GM for next season but my guess is that he is most probably done for the bigs.
why are good hitting catchers so hard to come by?!…so much time spent on framing, defense, pitch selection, etc. takes away from batting practice?…pretty sure I just answered my own question lol but still…
Plus they get banged up with foul tips and catching takes a lot of exertion…..
Lesser length of career, destroyed body, possible concussions, whats not to love? lol
It’s a shame he hasn’t worked out but at least he has a world series ring. Korea, anyone?
I would like the Red Sox to resign him to a minor league contract. His value will inrease with the new 26 man roster rule. If he could regain some of his hitting form, then he could be a third string catcher/outfielder/pinch hitter/first baseman. He is a better runner than most catchers. The new rule could increase some players’ value. A possible pinch hitter DH type or a fielding specialist, and to a lesser degree pinch runner. It will alter how MLB game is played slightly. .
“That the Red Sox effectively played the 2018 season with a 24-man roster makes last year’s World Series win all the more impressive,”
What a stupid statement. As if bench players on ANY team have heaps of playing time. The man played in over half their games!!!