Red Sox Announce Postseason Roster; Vazquez Backing Up Leon At Catcher
BOSTON (CBS) -- With the Red Sox boasting one of the best lineups in baseball, there was very little debate ahead of Thursday morning's announcement of their postseason roster.
But there was one area that fans were curious about: Who would be backing up Sandy Leon behind the plate? Those duties will go to rookie Christian Vazquez.
Vazquez played only 57 games in the majors this season after being sent down to Triple-A in early July, but his defense behind the plate makes him a solid addition to the postseason roster. He threw out 35 percent of runners during his time with Boston in 2016, and has gunned down 44 percent in his 110 major league games. That could come in handy against a Cleveland team that likes to try to make things happen on the base paths.
Infielder Marco Hernandez also made the cut, and will likely serve as the team's primary pinch-runner this postseason.
There were no other surprises on Boston's ALDS roster, which includes 11 pitchers and 14 position players:
Pitchers
Starters
Rick Porcello
David Price
Clay Buchholz
Eduardo Rodriguez
Relievers
Matt Barnes
Joe Kelly
Craig Kimbrel
Drew Pomeranz
Robbie Ross Jr.
Koji Uehara
Brad Ziegler
Positional Players
Catchers
Sandy Leon
Christian Vazquez
Infielders
Hanley Ramirez
Dustin Pedroia
Xander Bogaerts
Travis Shaw
Marco Hernandez
Aaron Hill
Brock Holt
Outfielders
Andrew Benintendi
Mookie Betts
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Chris Young
Designated Hitter
David Ortiz
Rick Porcello will get the start for Boston in Thursday night's Game 1, scheduled for 8pm (check out a full breakdown of the scheduled pitching matchups for the ALDS here).
