Is Christian Vazquez the Boston Red Sox's Catcher of the Future?

Christian Vazquez has been a constant presence behind the plate for the Boston Red Sox in the second half of the season, and he figures to occupy the same role in 2015.

But should he? And is Vazquez really Boston's catcher of the future?

The 24-year-old has been a revelation behind the dish for the Red Sox, throwing out 45 percent of all base stealers in his 355 1/3 innings to date, excluding Thursday night's game. Through August 22, his aptitude behind the plate in both limiting steals and discouraging players to run ranked second in baseball behind only Yadier Molina of the Cardinals, as RedSoxStats tweets.

Vazquez's aptitude in limiting the running game is extraordinary in Red Sox history. The last time a backstop with at least 300 innings caught cracked the 40 percent caught-stealing mark for Boston was Marc Sullivan in 1987, who split duties with Rich Gedman and John Marzano that season.

Further, Vazquez has proven to be adept at the framing game. Baseball Prospectus' catching data indicates that Vazquez has hauled in 82.9 extra strikes than predicted. Every catcher ahead of him on the list has had more playing time, so in a full season, it's possible Vazquez could be even more special. The ability to frame pitches and receive extra strikes is a major asset for a team, as it reduces the amount of pitches thrown by a pitcher and also impacts the offense's ability to score runs.

Vazquez does need to tighten up other elements of the fielding game. His .986 fielding percentage and seven passed balls are not terrible by any means, but they do not stand out from the pack either. Regardless, the total blend of skills makes Vazquez the best fielding catcher Boston has had in decades.

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Unfortunately, his sparkling defense comes with a trade-off. His offense is a major concern and has been an issue that has dogged him most of his career. As Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus (membership required) wrote prior to the year, Vazquez struggles against velocity and quality secondary pitches (so, essentially, most relievers and front-line starting pitchers) and lacks home-run power.

While Vazquez's defense is so strong that he could be deserving of starting on a World Series contender with an offensive profile that keeps pitchers honest, a current 2014 line of .223/.285/.276 does not inspire much hope.

There is a metric called "weighted runs created" (wRC+) at Fangraphs.com that judges Vazquez's offensive production and then weighs it against league average production (ranked at 100) while also factoring in league and park effects. All this is to say that Vazquez's 53 wRC+ means he's been 47 percent worse at creating runs with the bat than the average hitter. That's untenable.

Of course, catchers don't need to hit nearly as well as the average player to be of value because the toll that catching takes on offense is well known. Of all catchers with at least 150 plate appearances on the season (Vazquez entered Thursday's games with 154), his wRC+ of 53 ranked 44th-worst and is surrounded by a motley crew of backup catchers.

No one is saying Vazquez has to hit like a top-five offensive catcher with a wRC+ north of 100, but he needs to be passable with the bat in order for the Red Sox to justify carrying his bat in the starting lineup. As the Fangraph link above indicates, an "awful" wRC+ comes out to 60, and Vazquez comes in underneath that. If Vazquez can lift his wRC+ into the 70s, that would likely be enough for the Puerto Rican to lock down a 2015 starting spot.

It might not guarantee a long-term spot, however, with a top prospect lurking in the minor leagues who could very well post a wRC+ north of 100.

Blake Swihart is 22 years old and has already hit Triple-A Pawtucket after proving he could handle Double-A, posting a .300/.353/.487 mark in 347 at-bats for Portland. In Pawtucket, he's struggled with a .261/.282/.377 line that indicates he's not quite ready for the majors. However, he could be ready as soon as midseason 2015, and the switch-hitting catcher has a much higher offensive profile than Vazquez. Defensively, he can't match Vazquez but as Parks states, his defensive profile should reach that of an above-average catcher. The blend of skills Swihart brings to the plate could net him several All-Star appearances down the line.

When it comes to debating the catcher of the future, it seems to be no contest: Swihart roundly wins the battle. The bat just isn't present enough in Vazquez to hold off Swihart, and a position change does not make sense for the latter player given his quality defensive skills as well.

In 2015, Vazquez does deserve a long look behind the plate. Boston won't be motivated to acquire a catcher in the free-agent or trade market that blocks Swihart, and it is well worth seeing if Vazquez can improve with the bat. That would be to Boston's benefit, as it would give them two starting-caliber backstops.

If Swihart proves to be the real deal, Vazquez should settle in as a highly capable backup that has strong trade value.

So no, Vazquez isn't the catcher of the future. But he's certainly set up to be the 2015 starting catcher. If the Red Sox hope to win the division next year, they'll have to make do with a black hole occupying the No. 9 spot in the lineup who just so happens to rival Yadier Molina for best defensive catcher in the game.