For Varitek, offense is Catching ON

May 29, 2009 | Boston Globe | By Tony Massarotti


In Kenmore or in Canada, the answer remains the same. Jason Varitek has no interest in discussing his offensive resurgence.

"I just want to focus on playing,’’ the Red Sox catcher conveyed last night by text message shortly after the Red Sox arrived in Toronto.


Can you blame him?


Slightly less than two months into the 2009 season, Varitek this morning has 10 home runs, more than any catcher in major league baseball. Even Twins catcher Joe Mauer has just seven homers in games he has started behind the plate. (Mauer has 11 overall.) The Red Sox are getting above-average production from their catcher again, if not from their designated hitter, fortifying the argument that baseball frequently gives back what it takes away.


Now consider this: Of the 24 American League playoff teams in the last six seasons, 18 have finished in the top half of the league in OPS from the catching position. Last year, while the Red Sox slipped to 13th in the AL in that category, the Minnesota Twins, Los Angeles Angels, and Tampa Bay Rays all finished in the top five, magnifying the importance of getting something from what is generally regarded as a defensive position in a league where offense often has reigned.


For Varitek and the Red Sox, the most important question is obvious: Can this continue? A year ago at this time, Varitek had only just begun a precipitous 61-game nosedive during which he batted a positively abysmal .158 while amassing more than twice as many strikeouts (63) as hits (31). The slump might have been slightly more palatable had Varitek hit more than two home runs, precisely the same number he collected in yesterday’s 3-1 Red Sox win over the Twins at the Metrodome.


With yesterday’s eruption, Varitek has hit six home runs in the latter half of this month. He has a pair of two-homer games, one in which he homered twice from the right side (May 20 vs. Toronto), the other in which he homered twice from the left (yesterday). Nobody is suggesting that Varitek will continue the pace that currently has him on track to belt 34 home runs, but that is not the point. The greater issue is that the 37-year-old is not an automatic out at the moment, something that has been invaluable to the club given the demise of David Ortiz.


We are all quite aware of what Varitek has endured over the past year. Last summer, his career and marriage seemed to simultaneously disintegrate. The parallel paths of Varitek’s decline finally converged late during the winter, when Varitek was negotiating with the Red Sox while going through mediation in the midst of his divorce proceedings. He emerged from it all with a one-year, $5 million contract containing a dual option for next season that could bring the value of the deal to a minimum of $8 million, a maximum of $10 million.


Since that point, he has acted and played like a man with a clear mind.


This spring, in fact, one Sox official marveled at Varitek’s "outlook," which is to say the club was impressed by the workmanlike manner in which Varitek approached camp. There was no grousing about the fact that manager Terry Francona pinch hit for him during the last postseason. There was no grumbling about being mistreated in contract talks. There was no whining about the possibility of a decreased role as the Red Sox seek to make the transition to their next generation of catcher, all of which was talked about in the midst of discussions between Varitek and the Red Sox over the winter.


Varitek knows the score here. He has never been one to shirk responsibility. He knows that credibility must be won on a daily basis, and he has never once given the Red Sox something less than his best effort while between the lines on any field.


But then, that is why he is their captain.


As everyone knows, there is still a great deal of baseball to be played this season. Varitek currently is on pace to play 118 regular season games, the fewest of his Red Sox career as a starter (except in seasons during which he suffered a significant injury). One of the Red Sox’ goals this season was to make Varitek more efficient by cutting back his playing time so he could be more productive in September. Varitek has a .229 career average in September, his lowest of any month.


Whether Varitek’s resurgence follows the current path certainly is open to question, but we all know what the captain of the Red Sox has accomplished here. Amid questions about whether he should consider batting righthanded full-time, Varitek instead took on the challenge of reinventing himself entirely from the left side of the plate. Two months into the season, with results to show for it, maybe the catcher of the Red Sox has done a great deal more than to reinvent himself at the plate.


Maybe, too, has revived his own career.