Boston Red Sox fans over the years have been thirsting for the next Jason Varitek to come along and lead this club. Since Tek’s retirement back in 2011, the defensive nightmares and streaky productivity of guys like Jarrod Saltalamacchia and A.J. Pierzynski have been traumatizing to watch. As future building blocks like Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts flew through the system though, it seemed like it was just a matter of time before a top catching prospect would appear. The first to do so would be defensive wizard Christian Vazquez.

Towards the end of a hopeless 2014 season, Vazquez was called up for fifty five games. He immediately became a fan favorite in Boston, thanks to his work ethic and passion when playing the game. Not to mention, his performance behind the plate led to him earning the nickname "Mini Yadi". Christian threw 52% of runners out, while hitting .240 and earning the outspoken trust of the pitching rotation. In a season that saw World Series hero Jon Lester leave, Christian made it so life didn’t seem so bad.

Heading into 2015, it seemed as if Vazquez and Ryan Hanigan were going to share time behind the plate. Sadly, things didn’t go as planned when Vazquez suffered an elbow injury during the spring and required Tommy John surgery soon after. This ultimately led to lack of catching depth, which became evident when Ryan Hanigan suffered a broken hand in early May.

Originally Blake Swihart was suppose to spend at least most of 2015 down in AAA, so that he could further develop his skills behind the plate. After Hanigan went down though, that plan was thrown out the window. Swihart was called up the next day to start against the New York Yankees, and there was a ton of hype. Coming up through the system, Blake was talked about as this multi-facted catcher who had drawn comparisons to All-Star Buster Posey. What many fans didn’t account for though, was the fact he only played 38 games at the AAA level. For any prospect that is a very tough jump, but for catchers who often need more time to develop it was destined to be rough.

In Blake’s first 31 games prior to the All-Star break, he posted a weak .241 batting average with just one homerun and 11 RBIs. On top of that, Swihart’s defense behind the plate was tough to watch. Across the entire season, he allowed 16 passed balls. That was second most in the MLB, right behind Russell Martin who had 19. It has to be noted though, that Martin played 34 more games compared to Blake in 2015. If Swihart had played a full season, he would have easily led the MLB in that category.

Once the All-Star break came around though, it seemed as if Blake was beginning to get comfortable at the plate. Across 44 games in the second half of the season, Swihart hit .303 with four home runs and twenty RBIs. The adjustment period had seemed to take place, and now Swihart was hitting like one of the better catchers in the MLB. As the offense wowed fans, the defense still struggled. Besides not being able to keep the baseball in front of him, Blake’s pitch framing was also very subpar. Even though the offense was there, many fans were still looking back on Vazquez’s defense with opening arms.

At the position of catcher, defense is often the most important attribute in many team’s eyes. A strong defensive catcher can not only work with pitcher’s to help them improve and stay calm on the mound, but control the base paths and limit careless mistakes. Sloppy catcher’s can really kill a team later in the season. Look at the last four team’s to win a World Series Championship. They included catchers Salvador Perez, Buster Posey, David Ross, and Buster Posey again. Each one of those guys are known to be very strong behind the plate. Teams that can limit mistakes are the ones that win in October. When playing to keep your season alive, passed balls and overthrowing a guy covering the bag is just going to have you sitting on your couch sooner rather than later. Avoidable mistakes like that are exactly what the Red Sox need to avoid as they look to make it back to the postseason in 2016.

With just a couple of weeks before pitchers and catchers report to spring training for the Red Sox, Vazquez believes he will be 100% from the start. His elbow is no longer giving him any issues, and he’s even in "the best shape of his life". Christian will likely start the season in AAA because of rust, but that excuse won’t last forever as the year progresses.

Fans who fell in love with Christian Vazquez as he came up through the farm system, will talk all day about how he would be the perfect backup to Blake Swihart in 2016. In all reality though, using Christian’s elite defense here and there off the bench would be a waste of both his talent and value. Not to mention, other teams who have looked at Vazquez as a possible trade target believe he could hit enough to stick as a starter. If he can re-establish his value this season, teams will be starving for Christian’s services again. He alone could bring back a solid piece in return, or be a significant part of a trade package in the future. Even though reports have been positive for Vazquez so far and everyone is getting excited for his comeback, spring training will be the defining step in his road to a full recovery.

At this point in time, the best course of action for the Red Sox is to take things slow. There is no need to push Christian this spring. The 2016 Red Sox already have a great veteran backup with Ryan Hanigan. Not to mention, everyone around baseball already understands the struggle that goes along with coming back from Tommy John surgery. Just last year the Baltimore Orioles tried to rush catcher Matt Wieters back as soon as possible and the results weren’t pretty. He ended up having multiple setbacks, and when he returned he struggled mightily to get back to where he once was. The last thing the Red Sox need to do right now is throw away a valuable asset because of a reckless mindset.

The most valuable role Vazquez can serve in the upcoming season is depth. It isn’t too often catchers can go an entire season without some type of DL stint. One of the biggest weaknesses the Red Sox struggled with last year was the fact that the team lacked reliable backups when different guys went down. It’s likely that Blake will definitely have some issues staying fresh in his first full season of major league baseball. When that time comes along, who knows what they’ll do to make sure Swihart doesn’t completely burn out. It would be almost impossible to believe that Boston won’t need Vazquez at some point to help aid the current Swihart/Hanigan tandem.

Even though Red Sox fans do not want to admit it, both young catchers are still unproven commodities. It probably won’t be until after 2016 when the actual answer as to who the future at catcher is. But right now, Blake has earned the opportunity based off his past and overall talent. He’ll have plenty of time to show that the second half of 2015 was no fluke. And if things don't go well, Christian Vazquez will be waiting there for at least one more season to see if the day needs to be saved. Until one of these catchers takes full control and helps lead this team, there will be constant debate as to who deserves to be behind the dish more frequently.

For now, Red Sox fans should be thankful that this is a good problem to have for a team that has finished in last place two seasons in a row. Other Teams across the league would be begging to be dealing with the same kind of talent and situation.

Even if life in Boston doesn't work out for Vazquez, hopefully it will somewhere else. It is extremely rare to see a guy who enjoys playing baseball as much as Christian does on a regular basis. It really reminds fans like myself of the same joy we experienced while playing little league as kids. There is something special about Vazquez, and it seems to be an energy that really rallies and leads the guys around him. Intangibles like that are something no athlete can learn over time.