Varitek starting to get back in the swing

August 23, 2008 | Boston Globe| By Nick Cafardo

 

TORONTO - You look for a sign that perhaps this will be the at-bat or the game when Jason Varitek's poor offensive season turns around and the bad dream he's endured ends. If anyone deserves to enjoy success at the plate, it's Varitek, one of the most unselfish players ever to put on a Red Sox uniform.

 

You hear no grousing from him about his forgettable season even though this is his free agent year, when most players would have their stomach in knots agonizing over their future.

 

In Varitek's case, there will be a next year and probably a few years after that. Whether he will be in Boston remains the issue, but the decision appears to be his. Do not look for the Sox to offer a Jorge Posada contract to Varitek, but it will certainly be a fair offer - probably an extension of what he has in place ($10 million-a-year base). It's hard to believe he would receive much of a raise or the four years he and Scott Boras probably will want to stay in Boston. But Varitek could decide Boston will be his final destination and agree to fewer years just to remain in the same uniform.

 

Obviously, this offseason we'll see how much the 36-year-old catcher wants that.

 

We'll also see what the market might bear for him. Catching is scarce. You don't need an expert to tell you that, and it was obvious from the time the season opened that the Sox were looking for a young catcher who might one day take Varitek's spot. They recently signed backup David Ross to a Triple A deal and will continue to search high and low for their catcher of the future. It may very well be Portland's Mark Wagner.

 

Lately, there's been some life in Varitek's bat.

 

He's homered in three consecutive games, including last night, a line shot to left in the sixth inning. He has a five-game hitting streak. He entered last night's game with a .218 average, third worst among major league hitters with a minimum of 300 at-bats. With J.D. Drew ailing with a herniated disk and Mike Lowell on the disabled list, this would be a fine time for Varitek to get hot.

 

"I'll help out with the bat," he said after the 8-4 win over the Blue Jays. "I've always believed I will."

 

In his heyday, Varitek was perhaps not the best hitter, but a clutch hitter. He had big homers, big hits in key spots. He earned his captain's designation for that and his obvious defensive skills, which are second to none. There are catchers who can throw better, but there are few who can handle a pitching staff better. Is he overrated? Yes, until you try to replace him with a guy who is calling the wrong pitch at the wrong time and isn't setting up hitters as only Varitek can. Then you find out how underrated he was.

 

He believes he was overanalyzing everything at the plate for a long time. He said, "I can be too analytical," breaking down every aspect of his swing. But he's felt an upswing since the All-Star break even though he hasn't had much to show for it. "I've had some good at-bats," he said. In a lineup this good, especially with Drew and Lowell, you can carry a weak hitter, whether it's a defensive whiz catcher or a vacuum cleaner shortstop. You just can't carry both in the American League.

 

But who knows? Maybe something is finally turning. Maybe it's taken this long for Varitek to figure out whatever he's been missing at the plate. For a guy who spends so much time studying scouting reports to help his pitchers, it's awfully tough to dedicate the needed time to hitting. And remember, he's a switch hitter, so he has to give time to both sides of the plate. Not an easy task on top of everything else.

 

Varitek hit .238 and .255 in 2006 and '07, though last year he hit 17 homers and knocked in 68 runs. His on-base percentage this season has plummeted to .307. What he's experiencing is a far different animal than anything he's been through before. Since he's hitting below .230 since mid-June and .171 in his last 65 games until last night, it is certainly justified for anyone to think that perhaps Varitek has lost it on offense.

 

Did he believe he'd lost it? Varitek didn't know how to answer. He searched for the right words.

 

"It's hard to explain," he said. "I was frustrated. I didn't have control of my bat head. Sometimes I'm just my own worst enemy."

 

It's been a tough year for Varitek, who is also going through a divorce. His Yankee counterpart, 37-year-old Posada, has also endured a season to forget, limited to 51 games by shoulder surgery. When catchers get older, injuries happen and performance drops. It's the rare bird who rises. Thirty-six-year-old Pudge Rodriguez, a .302 career hitter with 13 Gold Gloves and 14 All-Star Games, has dropped to a combined .288 with Detroit and the Yankees, with six homers and 33 RBIs. He is still a good defensive catcher, but not as good as he once was.

 

Varitek made an impressive play in the seventh last night when he fielded a topper to the left of the plate and gunned down speedy Vernon Wells with two on and two out. It was just a reminder that as poorly as things have gone at the plate, he's making plays to win games with the gear on.

 

"People have stuck with me. We're working hard," said Varitek. "Still, my main job is to get the pitchers ready."

 

Now he hopes the rest of it is coming together as well.