FORT MYERS, Fla. — There don’t seem to be any openings in the Red Sox starting lineup. The outfield is flush with young stars, Hanley Ramirez is going to be the designated hitter, and the infield is set with Mitch Moreland and Pablo Sandoval anchoring the corners. Despite what the Sox may say, there is virtually no competition for jobs.
Except behind the plate. Watch out for Christian Vazquez.
Vazquez lost the job to Sandy Leon last season. He tried to come back from Tommy John surgery too soon, struggled behind the plate, hit only .227 in 57 games, and was sent back to the minors. Leon, perceived as a journeyman even though he’s only a year older than Vazquez, had a career year, hitting .310 with 7 homers and 35 RBIs in 78 games. Vazquez played in only six games for Boston after July 2.
Based on his 2016 performance, Leon comes into camp as the starting catcher, but he knows there are guys gunning for his job. Switch-hitting star prospect Blake Swihart is back behind the dish after a year in the outfield, and the Sox have three nonroster invitees (Dan Butler, Jake DePew, Jordan Procyshen) camped in the catchers’ corners of the Fenway South clubhouse.
But Vazquez is the one most likely to be starting games behind the plate as the season unfolds.
“That’s the goal,’’ said the 26-year-old native of Puerto Rico. “We’ve got great catchers here, a great pitching staff, and a great team, so I’m happy to be here and have fun.’’
Vazquez looked like he’d be the Sox catcher for a decade when he burst upon the Fenway scene in the second half of the train-wreck 2014 season. He was one of the Theo Epstein prospects rushed to the big leagues when the season went south, and he responded by hitting .240 and throwing out 15 of 29 runners who tried to steal.
Everything was in front of him. Pitchers loved working with Vazquez. He looked like a guy who had a chance to be an elite defender.
Then came the spring of 2015 when he felt pain in his elbow.
“This is my food — my arm,’’ said the nervous kid as he waited to find out what was wrong.
The Sox downplayed the injury, but we didn’t see much of Vazquez behind the plate in Grapefruit League action. On the final weekend of the spring, the Sox announced that Vazquez had a ligament tear in his right elbow and would need Tommy John surgery. He would miss the season. It was a crushing blow, and the local nine went on to another last-place finish.
In 2016, Vazquez came back too soon (Baltimore All-Star backstop Matt Wieters experienced the same difficulties coming back from Tommy John surgery), and he didn’t have the same zip on his throws. He caught only eight of 23 runners who tried to steal, and the Sox didn’t seem happy with his game calling. In the righthanded batter’s box, he was barely able to crack the Mendoza Line.
“I was excited to be back, obviously, and I think my arm was, like, 75 percent at that time,’’ he recalled. “It was a learning year for me, to learn my body, to learn my arm.’’
He was sent to Pawtucket.
“They said I needed to get back in my rhythm and stronger in my arm and more consistent hitting,’’ he said.
“He needed to get more regular at-bats,’’ said manager John Farrell. “Last year he used a fairly pronounced leg kick and the timing became inconsistent with him. At Pawtucket, he eliminated that and created less motion in his approach at the plate.
“I thought there was ongoing development with his game calling and his handling of pitchers. With any guy, that’s still evolving.’’
Vazquez hit .270 for the PawSox (“I was happy to be playing every day again”) and was called up at the end of the season. The Sox rewarded his progress and showed some renewed faith when they put him on the 25-man playoff roster, but he did not participate in the three-game sweep suffered at the hands of the Indians.
He played a 37-game winter ball season in Puerto Rico, catching half of those games, and says his throwing is back to 100 percent.
“It was one day catching and then DHing the next day the whole time in the winter,’’ he said. “I feel great.’’
The Sox will be keeping a close eye on his progress when the spring training games start this week.
“What we won’t see is the peaks and valleys with his throwing that we saw last year,’’ said Farrell. “Anybody coming off that surgery would have that.”
Is the job open?
Delivering a dazzling double negative, the manager answered, “I can’t say that it is not without competition.’’
Good.
“In 2014, that was my best moment, the way I was throwing,’’ said Vazquez. “And that’s the way I feel now, which makes me happy. This is going to be a fun spring training. Let’s see what happens.’’
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @dan_shaughnessy.