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Blake Swihart says he’ll be back for spring training

Blake Swihart was placed on the disabled list June 5.WINSLOW TOWNSON/USA Today Sports/File 2016

Nearly two weeks after undergoing season-ending surgery on his left ankle, Blake Swihart is staring down a long recovery over the offseason, targeting a return for spring training.

Swihart was wearing a cast and using a knee walker when he entered the Red Sox clubhouse before Sunday night’s game against the Royals. He said he felt no pain.

“I’ll be ready by spring training,” Swihart said. “So I think by the middle of the offseason, I’ll be able to get back into baseball shape.”

A season that got off to a promising start for Swihart turned into a lost year. He was the Opening Day catcher with Christian Vazquez working his way back from Tommy John surgery. But Swihart was moved to left field in May, then suffered the injury crashing into the wall in foul territory chasing a fly at Fenway.

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Swihart was placed on the disabled list June 5. His second major league season amounted to just 19 games and 74 plate appearances.

“It’s hard,” he said. “I want to be out there with them. But at least I get to come in and be there with them for the whole thing. So it’s a lot of fun seeing them go out there, and the way they’re playing is awesome.”

Swihart said he will visit with doctors in the next couple weeks to map out his next steps. He said he will begin lifting weights soon.

“He’s in a pretty delicate phase right now, allowing that surgery . . . to heal,” manager John Farrell said. “Once he comes out of being immobilized, then the next phase of that rehab and range of motion starts to kick in. I don’t think winter ball is likely to make up for any lost at-bats. So an unfortunate injury that’s cost him quite a bit of time this year.”

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Asked if he wished he had opted to have surgery sooner, Swihart said he exhausted every option to try to make a return this season.

“We kind of put our heads together and I wanted to try and get back out on the field this year,” he said. “I wanted to play this year, tried to do everything I can to, but just couldn’t get it done. So I don’t regret it, no.”

Role player

Farrell called on Clay Buchholz in the eighth inning of Saturday night’s win, letting the righthander get accustomed to the possibility of pitching in setup situations.

“The fact that he’s on the mound in the eighth inning — he’s lived it with all of us what that eighth inning has been of late — I’m sure he looked upon that as an opportunity to fill this role,” Farrell said.

In his first outing since returning to the bullpen after three starts, Buchholz threw a clean inning, working around a walk to Eric Hosmer. Farrell did not have to call on Buchholz during Sunday night’s 10-4 loss.

With Koji Uehara working to return from a right pectoral strain before the end of the season, Farrell envisioned playing the matchups with Buchholz and righthander Brad Ziegler.

“I think the fact that it’s the eighth, so much is centered around who’s going to nail down that spot,” Farrell said. “And we’ll still probably go with [Ziegler against righthanded batters], but in those other spots or in those eighth-inning situations where you’ve got those lefties mixed in there, Clay is certainly a candidate to pitch that inning.”

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Possible call-up?

Earlier this month, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski left the door open for calling up Yoan Moncada from Double A Portland. Within the last two weeks, Moncada has moved from his natural position of second base to third, seemingly setting up an appearance in Boston when major league rosters expand Sept. 1.

“The talk around Yoan Moncada has been about moving over, obviously, to third base,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “He’s just getting some reps at that position. Whether or not he comes up in a role that would be either mixed in in that capacity — does he give you a base-stealing threat coming off the bench — those are the types of things that we talk about. Whether or not he comes up here is yet to be determined.

“We know he’s an exciting young player with tremendous talents, but whether that time is 2016 or sometime after, that’s yet to be determined.”

Moncada has hit .299 with 14 home runs and 60 RBIs in 103 games between Portland and Single A Salem, but in the short term his base running might be as valuable as his bat. He stole 36 bases in Salem and has eight steals for Portland.

In the past, the Red Sox have added essentially a base-running specialist for the postseason, such as Quintin Berry in 2013.

“We’ve been on the lookout for that, whether it’s external or if it’s someone internally that would serve that role, that remains to be seen,” said Farrell. “But we’ve had discussions about that particular and specific role.”

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Olympian effort

After gold medal-winning gymnast Aly Raisman threw out the first pitch Friday, a handful of 2016 Olympians with New England ties were on hand for Sunday’s first pitch: Kayla Harrison (judo, Danvers), Tessa Gobbo (rowing, Keene, N.H.), Gevvie Stone (rowing, Newton), Eleanor Logan (rowing, Portland, Maine), Michael Hixon (diving, Amherst), and Abbey D’Agostino (track and field, Topsfield) . . . Aaron Hill was available Sunday night after turning his ankle and being forced to leave Saturday night’s game in the eighth inning.


Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @julianbenbow.