Catcher Christian Vazquez has not played in a spring game since March 13 because of a sore right elbow. The concerns are mounting and he's scheduled to visit a Tommy John surgery specialist to have his arm examined.
The 24-year-old "will seek a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola Wednesday, yet another signal that Vazquez is dealing with a serious injury that could require season-ending surgery," according to Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com. Manager John Farrell said the team was being cautious in handling Vazquez's injury ever since he's been sidelined and the catcher admitted he was nervous about the soreness.
An MRI that was conducted over the weekend "found something" but it's unclear exactly what it is or how serious it may be. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list today with a right elbow sprain, according to Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.
Vazquez was expected to be the starter on Opening Day, but Farrell will have to figure out who will take over a week from Monday. Boston acquired catcher Sandy Leon from the Washington Nationals as insurance in case Vazquez were to be held out of action for an extensive period of time, but Farrell made his plan known.
"We're focused on the internal options (Humberto Quintero and Blake Swihart), as I said yesterday,'' he said, via McAdam. "Both guys are going to catch (in the final week in Florida). One's on the (40-man) roster (Swihart), one's not on the roster (Quintero). There's a number of factors that will come into this."
Swihart is the organization's top prospect and was sent down to Triple-A last week, but the injury to Vazquez creates an opportunity for the youngster, who batted .296/.345/.444/.789 with five runs scored, one home run and five RBIs in 12 spring training games. However, he has only logged 18 games at the Triple-A level so it's unknown how seriously Farrell is considering him as an option for Opening Day.
But he's certainly a realistic possibility.
"...top prospect Blake Swihart will get an extended look in the final week of spring training as the team decides whether to keep Swihart with the big club," writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.
