Jarrod Saltalamacchia could get left behind this week
by Chris Towers | CBSSports.com (5/10/2013) At the weak catcher position, you can definitely do worse than Red Sox backstop Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who continues to make up for subpar batting averages with his solid power. The biggest knock against him is the team has made an effort to hide him against lefties all year long, and for good reason; the 28-year-old has a meager .513 on-base plus slugging percentage against them in just 16 at bats.
With four left-handed pitchers on the schedule for Week 7 (May 13-19), our Scott White is urging Fantasy owners to sit Salty down in his Hit Parade column. Saltalamacchi will either be out of the lineup for those games against lefties (he has started just three out of 12 games against lefty starters), or he will struggle to get going. Either way, Week 7 is a good time to get him out of the lineup.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia sitting for Red Sox
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/5/2013) The Red Sox got several regulars some time off Sunday in Texas against Yu Darvish and the Rangers. Outfielder Shane Victorino, third baseman Will Middlebrooks and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia all got the start off, WEEI.com reports.
Saltalamacchia has started four of the previous six games for Boston with David Ross seeing starts when he's out of the lineup. Saltalamacchia has gone 1 for 9 (.111) over his last three games to drop his season average to .224.
"With Saltalamacchia, I’ve heard this from executives of other teams: They say they think that the Red Sox will be looking for an upgrade at that position, possibly even before the trade deadline at some point," Olney said. "They feel like, given the money that they’re paying him, he’s got to perform better than how he’s been performing at the beginning of this year."
Jarrod Saltalamacchia plates two vs. Astros
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (4/25/2013) Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia picked up his first multi-hit game since since April 10 during Thursday's contest against the Astros.
Saltalamacchia singled in single runs in the first and fifth innings. He finished 2 for 4 with two RBI in a 7-2 victory. He has eight hits in his last 39 at-bats.
Saltalamacchia is hitting .237/.308/.458 with three home runs and eight RBI in 59 at-bats.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia's average remains in decline
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/25/2013) After producing two multi-hit games in his first five starts, Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has gone 11 straight games (nine starts) without a multi-hit performance. His average has declined from .300 to .218 in that span.
Saltalamacchia is batting .171 (6 for 35) with one double, two home runs, three RBI and 15 strikeouts in his last 11 games.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia parks second HR
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/15/2013) Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia slugged his second home run of the season Monday against the Rays. Saltalamacchia led off the fifth inning with a solo home run off Jeremy Hellickson.
Saltalamacchia has a strong history against Hellickson. Including Monday's game, he's batting .300 (6 for 20) with two homers, four RBI and four walks.
Through nine games, Saltalamacchia is batting .267 (8 for 30) with two home runs, three doubles and four RBI.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia sitting Saturday
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/13/2013) Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia did not get the start Saturday against Tampa Bay. Instead, Boston went with David Ross.
Saltalamacchia and the Red Sox had their game against the Rays rained out Friday. He went 0 for 4 Thursday against Baltimore and is batting .250 with a homer and three RBI.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia goes for extra bases
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/10/2013) Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia had a big offensive game on Wednesday night during an 8-5 loss to Baltimore. The backstop was 3 for 3 after his first three at-bats with two doubles and a home run.
Saltalamacchia finished the game 3 for 4 for the Red Sox, which suffered the come-from-behind defeat. His first homer of the season came in the sixth inning for a solo shot with two outs off Tommy Hunter. He added an RBI double in the second to put the Sox on the board.
Saltalamacchia, who also struck out in the game, is batting .300. He'd gone 0 for 9 in his previous two games but woke up in a big way in Wednesday's loss.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia shows patience
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/1/2013) Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia tied a career-high with three walks Monday against the Yankees. He also added his first double of the season in an 8-2 opening day win.
Saltalamacchia, who drew 38 walks in 121 games last season, finished 1 for 2 (.500) with two runs and one strikeout.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia to get a few days off
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (3/24/2013) Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia was scratched from Sunday's Grapefruit League game against Philadelphia due to having a growth removed from his back, reports ESPN.
Saltalamacchia had the growth removed Wednesday but it opened up after Saturday's game against the Pirates.
"The incision opened up and we’re backing him out for a day or two to let it close back up," manager John Farrell said. "The medical staff wanted him to take a couple days off to let it close back up to prevent infection."
Jarrod Saltalamacchia to face more lefties this year
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (3/23/2013) Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia "has been led to believe that he'll get a 'good amount' of at-bats against lefthanded pitchers this season," accordng to CSNNE.com.
"I don't think it's going to be every lefty,'' he said, "but at least I've shown that I can do it enough so that it's not going to be a matchup type of thing. That's what I want. I want to get some at-bats and get that timing.''
A switch hitter, Saltalamacchia has hit .203/.256/.335 against lefties in 509 career plate appearances. Fifty-seven of his 448 plate appearances came against lefties in 2012, and he started only seven times when a left-hander was on the mound for the opposition.
"I've been working on a lot with (hitting coach Greg Colbrunn),'' said Saltalamacchia, "and there are some things that he's said that really clicked. It's just getting that comfort of getting some at-bats and seeing some pitches -- not just fastballs, but seeing curveballs and changeups -- and getting the timing down.''
Salty returns with double
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (3/3/2013) Boston catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia returned to Grapefruit League action as the designated hitter on Sunday against the Yankees. Dealing with lower-back stiffness early in camp, Saltalamacchia appears to be over it after going 1 for 2 with a double. Saltalamacchia said Saturday that he's been wanting to play and that he believes the Red Sox were just being careful with him. He's batting .375 this spring.
Saltalamacchia has stiffness
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (3/2/2013) Boston catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been dealing with a case of lower-back stiffness in camp, reports the Boston Globe Saturday. Saltalamacchia is out of Saturday's Grapefruit League lineup and hasn't played since Wednesday. "I want to play," Saltalamacchia said. "I think they're just being careful. I went through way worse last year."
BoSox think highly of Salty
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (2/10/2013) Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said Saturday the expectation is Jarrod Saltalamacchia and David Ross will share the catching duties at the beginning of the season, pushing Ryan Lavarnway back to Triple-A Pawtucket. “For right now, I think our expectations [are] Salty and Ross, they’re the two proven guys,” Cherington said. “We signed Ross for a reason and Salty has continued to build on each year and added some things and gotten better. He’s a power threat, capable of being one of the best catchers in the league. We’ve seen that. Lavarnway has come a long way. We think he’s going to be a really good player for us. Sometimes the clock doesn’t start exactly when the player wants to. But he’s proven at the Triple-A level that he’s capable of helping a major-league team. That’s going to happen; we just don’t know exactly when.”
First base not in Salty's future
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (1/22/2013) With the signing of Mike Napoli, the Red Sox head into spring training with a plethora of catchers, which include Jarrod Saltalamacchia, David Ross and Ryan Lavarnway. Despite the abundance of catchers, Saltalamacchia said he hasn't been asked to learn a new position, primarily first base. “I haven’t had any conversations about first base,” he told WEEI. “When I catch, that’s when I play my best. I’ve learned that about myself. I’m a better player when I catch, and catch on a regular basis. I think that’s something a lot of people learned last year.” Saltalamacchia said the conversations with new manager John Farrell have been "great." “He told me, ‘Listen, we signed Ross to complement you. You’re going to get right-handed at-bats.’ Stuff like that," Saltalamacchia said. "I’ve been happy with it."
Salty refilled by Red Sox
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (1/18/2013) The Red Sox and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million contract Friday to avoid arbitration, CBSSports.com Baseball Insider Jon Heyman reports. Saltalamacchia is expected to serve as the team's starting catcher after increasing his home run total from in each of his three seasons with Boston. He blasted a career-high 25 homers in 121 games last season, but produced a lowly .222 batting average.
