FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Red Sox have seven catchers in big league spring training camp. Three of them are on the 40-man roster and four are non-roster invitees, including two-time Gold Glove winner Roberto Pérez.
Boston signed both Pérez and Mark Kolozsvary to minor league contracts with big league camp invites. Pérez, 35, won Gold Gloves in 2019 and ‘20 with Cleveland and has played in 516 major league games. Kolozsvary has 11 games of big league experience in 2021-22.
Connor Wong, Reese McGuire and Tyler Heineman are on Boston’s 40-man roster. Wong and McGuire are the two leading candidates to be on the Opening Day roster after sharing the duties last year. Wong appeared in 126 games in ‘23 while McGuire logged 72 games.
Heineman, meanwhile, has appeared in 104 games over four seasons (2019-20, 2022-23). Boston acquired him from the Mets for cash considerations Feb. 2.
All four catchers will compete for Opening Day roster spots. Cora was asked if Pérez and Heineman are challenging McGuire for the No. 2 catcher spot.
“They’re challenging everybody,” Cora replied, indicating even Wong is competing for a job.
“We’re competing here. And there’s nothing given,” Cora added. “Obviously those two guys (Wong and McGuire) were really good last year. I feel they grew up. Another season under their belt, especially Connor. First full season with him. And dealing with a staff that was up and down. We had our good months and the bad ones. And that’s a good learning experience. Reese has been with us since ‘22 and last year was an up and down year for him but we trust him. I think at the end, we’ve got a good catching unit and let’s see what the next six weeks are all about.”
It’s unclear whether Pérez will be ready for Opening Day after he missed 2023 because of right rotator cuff surgery. He threw Saturday and Cora said it went “OK.”
“There’s a few things as far as his rehab that he needs to do but so far he’s been good,” Cora said.
Pérez worked with pitchers Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta in West Palm during the offseason.
“Having veteran guys that can catch and have that defensive-mentality is going to benefit us,” Cora said.
Cora called the veterans “really good receivers.” Their defensive ability should greatly benefit a young (and relatively inexperienced) Red Sox staff that includes Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford as well as Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock and Josh Winckowski who are competing for rotation spots.
“Defensive-minded guys that I think they’re going to help the group (of pitchers),” Cora said. “We’ll see what happens the rest of spring training. But I do believe we’re in a great spot pitching-wise, structure-wise. And I think behind the plate it is very important to continue to do that. We have some veteran guys that are here fighting for jobs. If it doesn’t happen, some of them are going to go to Triple A and there’s development to do down there in Triple A (helping prospect pitchers).”
Cora said framing is a point of emphasis around the league.
“If you’re not framing strikes, you’re not successful,” Cora said. “You’ve got to maximize every pitch in a sport that is max-effort stuff. You’re able to hold those strikes, it’s something that every team is trying to accomplish. I think we have a good unit not only with them here but I think they can actually help out Connor and Reese and the rest of the group, the young guys who are here, to be better and help them out with the mentality part of it.”
