Reese McGuire withstood trade deadline comparisons to the starting catcher the Sox dealt away, and he outperformed early expectations; but he still may not be good enough to be the permanent starter at catcher.
The Positives
It’s hard to write — or even think — about McGuire, without recalling how you felt on the day the Sox acquired him from Chicago. It came in the midst of news that they were trading away Christian Vazquez, a peppy, reliable backstop who had been with us for the entirety of his career. While Vazquez was not particularly known for his power hitting, or even for his contact (as catchers seldom are), he was an exceptional defensive asset for the Red Sox.