Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Kelly Shoppach and Ryan Lavarnway are going to provide a lot of thump behind the plate for the Red Sox in 2012. 26-year old switch-hitting Jarrod Saltalamacchia will be the starter once again in 2012. He played in 103 games for the Red Sox last year and he was 84 for 358 (.235 avg, .737 OPS) with 52 runs scored, 16 homers, 56 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He has now played in 113 games in his first two years with the Red Sox and he is 87 for 377 (.231 avg, .735 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 16 homers, 57 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Saltalamacchia has now played in 353 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 286 for 1,171 (.244 avg, .712 OPS) with 154 runs scored, 39 homers, 151 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Saltalamacchia had a rough time behind the plate, mostly when he was catching Tim Wakefield. Saltalamacchia played in 101 games behind the plate for the Red Sox last year and he had 6 errors and a stunning 26 passed balls. He threw out 28 of 120 (23.3%) base stealers last year and Red Sox’ pitchers had a 4.62 ERA with him behind the plate. If he doesn’t improve defensively, he’s likely to lose some P.T. in 2012.

31-year old righty swinging Kelly Shoppach will be the backup catcher at the start of the 2012 season for the Red Sox. He started his career in Boston way back in 2005. He played in 9 games for the Red Sox that year and he was 0 for 15 (.000 avg, .063 OPS) with 1 run scored. Shoppach played in 87 games for the Rays last year and he was 39 for 221 (.176 avg, .607 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 11 homers and 22 RBIs. He whiffed a stunning 79 times last season as he essentially turned into an all or nothing hitter. Shoppach has now played in 460 games in his first 7 years in the majors and he is 289 for 1,288 (.224 avg, .732 OPS) with 174 runs scored, 59 homers and 180 RBIs. Shoppach is a really solid defensive catcher. He played in 86 games behind the plate for the Rays last year and he had 3 errors and only 1 passed ball. Shoppach threw out 15 of 44 (34.1%) potential base stealers and Rays’ pitchers had a 3.77 ERA when he was behind the plate.

24-year old righty swinging Ryan Lavarnway is almost ready for prime time. He comes into this season as the Red Sox’ #9 prospect according to Baseball America. He played in 17 games for the Red Sox last year in his first taste of the majors and he was 9 for 39 (.231 avg, .738 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 2 homers and 8 RBIs. He also played in 116 games in AA+AAA-ball last year in which he was 126 for 435 (.290 avg, .939 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 32 homers, 93 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Lavarnway played in 8 games behind the plate for the Red Sox last year and he didn’t have any errors or passed balls. He threw out the only runner that tried to steal on him and Red Sox’ pitchers had a 4.39 ERA with him behind the plate. I look for Lavarnway to be the Red Sox’ starting catcher in 2013, if not before.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2012: C-