Defense will still matter, but some offense will be needed from the position.
Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is a much different package than Jason Varitek, and will be judged differently as a hitting-catching combo pack.Former catcher and New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he admired how Jason Varitek always put defense first.
Varitek never liked to talk about his hitting, even when he was hitting well. With the Red Sox catcher's retirement Thursday, his attitude toward his craft is worth considering as the role of the position undergoes dramatic change in Boston.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia's physical catching skills are adequate, but no one is pretending he's a match for Varitek in pitch-calling or game management.
Varitek did not have to hit much to justify his role. New backup Kelly Shoppach might have that luxury, but Salty won't.
Since he is no Varitek in other ways, he will have to hit, at least somewhat. Catching is largely but no longer solely about defense in Boston.
In his last four seasons, there were times the emphasis on Varitek's intangibles seemed like a built-in excuse to fair questions about his hitting and the slippage of his physical defensive skills.
Not until his last four seasons, though, did Varitek become a liability at the plate. His career numbers (.256 home runs, 193 home runs) are not bad for a defensive catcher.
Starting in 2008, though, Varitek hit .218, though he regained some punch with 11 homers last year.
All of this was excused, overlooked or ignored. He had become a backup, first to Victor Martinez and then to Saltalamacchia, and hardly any backup catchers hit very well.
There was also the fallback response, grounded in truth, that Varitek offered so much in other ways. As he begins his second year as the starter, Salty says he is ready to take charge, but he will also have to hit.
Last year, he hit .235 with 16 home runs and 56 RBIs.
He was not drinking beer and eating chicken in September, but he still hit only .162 that month.
He hit .217 after the All-Star break, though with more homers (10) and RBIs (32) than before.
Defensively, Saltalamacchia was better than many analysts expected. Part of that was because nobody knew what to expect.
He has a very strong arm, and he turns 27 in May. He is just entering the time of his career when most catchers establish their game management skills, as Varitek did.
The Red Sox have always insisted they judge catching primarily judged by defense, though they made a sensible exception for Martinez.
Analyzing this position now will no longer be all about intangibles and pure defense, but about hard numbers that will include hitting - a combo pack.
Jason Varitek's era is over. If this is indeed to be the Salty Era, its main character will be judged very differently than the man who defined the position for the past generation.