PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Here’s hoping that Gustavo Molina fares as well with the Red Sox as his replacement is faring with the PawSox.
The pieces began to fall early last weekend. Red Sox starting catcher Victor Martinez went down with a thumb injury, and because Triple-A catchers Mark Wagner and Dusty Brown were on the disabled list with hand injuries, Boston was forced to pull up Molina.
All of which left Torey Lovullo and the PawSox with a serious dearth of personnel behind the plate. That’s how Single-A Greenville’s Daniel Butler and Double-A Portland’s Juan Apodaca ended up wearing Pawtucket uniforms. And Apodaca, for one, has been far more than Pawtucket bargained for.
The catcher, hitting ninth in the PawSox’ 6-5 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, entered the game riding a three-game hitting streak since being promoted from Double-A Portland, going 3-for-11 with two doubles and an RBI.
On Wednesday, he one-upped himself, drilling his first Triple-A home run with one out and one on in the second.
Still, Apodaca’s offense isn’t why he was promoted.
"In [this] environment, what you want to have is a guy who's going to read swings, take control of the pitching situation and be a fearless leader," manager Lovullo said before Tuesday’s game. "Juan seems to have that ingredient. He's done really well in the past couple days. He's given us offense, too.”
And it’s definitely paid off.
On Tuesday, it was Apodaca’s early single that gave Pawtucket a 2-0 lead in the second inning. On Wednesday, it was Apodaca’s homer that broke open the game bright and early in the second inning. It provided some much-needed insurance when the Yankees staged a three-run comeback in the top of the ninth.
"He's had some key at-bats in key moments before today, so we knew something was in there," Lovullo said after the game. "For him to hit that big home run for us, I think that broke the game open for us. To me, that was more the backbreaker than anything and that was great to see."
The 23-year-old Apodaca spent 41 games with the Sea Dogs in 2010, and he hit .248 with two homers and six RBIs. He had one previous stint at the Triple-A level in 2005, when he spent two games with Las Vegas of the Pacific Coast League.
Still, it wasn’t his offense that caught they eye of the organization, and it wasn’t his offense that necessitated his promotion this month.
"The first questions we'll ask about a kid that's going to be coming up from a lower level is, 'How does he handle a pitching staff? How does he relate to his players? How does he control a ballgame?'" Lovullo said. "That was definitely his strength."
But it never hurts to have more than a few strengths when your time comes to move up in the ranks, and whether or not Apodaca was ready to come up last weekend, it was his time. Fortunately, by all indications, he was ready.
Lovullo often preaches that baseball is a game of opportunity. "That’s what this game is about," he said before Wednesday’s game, "being in the right place at the right time."
Molina is getting his in Boston, and Apodaca is certainly making the most of his own opportunity — however unexpected — in Pawtucket.
