Red Sox catcher Swihart struggling to throw ball back to pitcher
The Boston Red Sox aren't ready to call it a case of the yips, but Blake Swihart's first few days back at catcher haven't been entirely smooth.
During some early drills this week, Swihart has had trouble accurately throwing the ball back to the pitcher, often airmailing it past his intended target.
Here's video of an example of the issues Blake Swihart had this morning in throwing back to the pitcher. pic.twitter.com/ceKkBHbtqn
— CSN New England (@CSNNE) February 17, 2017
"This is something that has just kind of popped up a little bit," Red Sox manager John Farrell told Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald on Friday. "(He) has always been a good athlete, a good athletic catcher. Accurate thrower. There's some technique that he's working through right now and this isn't even throwing the ball to second base. It's just a matter of the transferring, getting the ball back to the pitcher in good shape. We're working on it right now."
Swihart was once a top catching prospect in Boston's system and started last season behind the plate before the club experimented with playing him in left field. A season-ending ankle injury in June cost him all but 19 games and led the Red Sox to try him back at catcher this spring.
The 24-year-old is competing for the starting job with Sandy Leon and Christian Vazquez at camp and said he's not deterred by the position switch despite the early throwing issues.
"In the outfield you have a longer arm swing, a longer arm movement," Swihart told Drellich. "I'm just trying to shorten it back up. They are misfiring, but I'm not too worried about it. … The last time I caught was, what, the first six games of the season last year."