The young backstop had a dreadful start to his first full season as the starting catcher of the Red Sox, and it even led to a virtual platoon between Saltlamacchia and veteran catcher Jason Varitek.
However, the Red Sox maintained all spring that Saltalamacchia was the starter, and just recently, he's started to reward some of the patience that may have waned some, but never disappeared.
On May 15, Saltalamacchia finally broke through in terms of power and hit his first home run of the season. It was far from a moonshot — it was a weakly hit opposite-field fly ball that just got over the right-field fence at Yankee Stadium — but the round-tripper seems to have sparked Saltalamacchia's power.
Counting that home run against the Yankees, Saltalamacchia has blasted four home runs in his last six games. The sudden surge may be surprising in its timing and abundancy, but Saltalamacchia has always been thought to have had some power. Aside from hitting 19 home runs in A-ball in 2005, though, Saltalamacchia has never hit more than 11 home runs in a single season.
Still, as this recent stretch has shown, Saltalamacchia has some pop in his bat. He's shown that he can drive the ball from both sides of the plate, and Red Sox brass and fans alike would love for this to be the season the young catcher lives up to his power potential.
How many home runs will Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit this season? Share your thoughts below.
How many home runs will Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit this season?customer surveys
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