Kyle Schwarber has his work cut out for him in learning to play first base in the big leagues.
Schwarber has been an outfielder throughout his seven-year Major League Baseball career, but the Red Sox acquired him at the trade deadline with hopes of deploying him at first base during the 2021 stretch run and perhaps the postseason. Schwarber intends to master the position
Red Sox infielder coach Ramón Vázquez explained to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey the biggest challenges the slugger faces in transitioning from outfielder to first baseman in Boston.
“We’re trying to teach him a lot of stuff,” Vázquez said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on. It’s a lot more than just catching a groundball and throwing it somewhere, there are relays when people are on base. When the game speeds up is when it’s going to get harder for him. We’ve just got to make sure we’re on top of it and help him from the dugout as much as we can and also ask the infielders to help him as much as they can, too. But so far at least the work that needs to be done, he’s getting it done and trying to help and wants to help any way he can. So far he’s making strides.”
First base once was a relatively stationary position, but modern players now must cover more range, move in different directions and do so quickly.
“Playing first base is not like the old days,” Vazquez continued. “Now you’re playing so far off the bag and you’ve got to run back, every foul ball and groundball you’ve got to hustle to first base, so we might keep him a little closer than usual, not as far as we get Bobby (Dalbec) out there. But there’s a lot of stuff. Runners on base, there’s different places you need to be, lefties and righties, watching the pickoff move, when there are runners on first base so there are just a lot, we’re throwing a lot at him at once and there’s no other way. It’s taken us a while to get him out there just because there are so many things, but we are throwing a lot of stuff out there to him, and it looks like he’s handling it OK.”
Schwarber has appeared in eight games for the Red Sox, serving as the designated hitter in the first six and left fielder in the last two.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora on Tuesday said Schwarber is “getting close” to being ready for first base duty and indicated he might debut at the position later this week.
It won’t be long before Red Sox Nation receives a real-time status update on Schwarber’s progress.
