Blake Swihart rejoins Red Sox after emotional week

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart returned to camp Monday morning, days after the sudden death of his younger brother, intent on focusing on baseball again.

"It's been an emotional time,'' said Swihart, whose 23-year-old brother Romell Jordan died last Wednesday. "I'm doing a lot better now, family's doing good. Just the support ... everything's been awesome. The ceremony was good. Seeing all the flowers sent by everybody and all the messages I received, not only by the team but all around baseball, has been great.''

As painful as the week has been, Swihart felt the backing and support of his teammates, which helped him get through such a challenging time.

"We're really brothers,'' he said. "There's time during the year when we're with these guys more than our own families. They're a family in their own right. So it just shows how close we are as a team. It's been awesome.''

Swihart didn't make the cross-state trip to Port St. Lucie Monday, but plans to be in the lineup Tuesday when the Sox play the Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach.

"Definitely,'' he said. "I'm ready to go, feeling good and I'm excited to get back into shape.''

Last Thursday, before flying home to New Mexico, Swihart got two at-bats against the Nationals at jetBlue Park and was buoyed by the backing he received from the rest of the roster. Most stood on the top step of the dugout when Swihart came to bat for the first time to provide moral support.

The Red Sox have a policy in which players not in the lineup don't have to stay for the game as long as the opponent is not on the team's schedule in the upcoming season. Despite that, almost the entire roster was in uniform and in the dugout to be on hand for his two at-bats.

"It was special,'' said Swihart. "It was a game when (the regulars not in the lineup) could have gone home. I kind of didn't think about them all being there until I had that first at-bat. It was special, a special moment and being able to put on my uniform for (my brother) was awesome. It shows you. Everybody loves (one another) and everybody knows how close-knit of a team we are here. It makes it fun.''

In the middle of his first at-bat against Nationals ace Max Scherzer, Swihart broke his bat. He noticed three little boys near the dugout and handed them the bat as a souvenir.

"They were having a good time and I was never going to use that bat again,'' Swihart recalled, ''so I thought I'd try to make somebody's day and do that. It's always nice to put a smile on somebody's face.''

Now that he's back in his usual setting, Swihart believes a return to the environment can help with his own healing process.

"Just being around my brothers,'' he said, "and going out and playing the game I love will definitely be good. It's time to go back to work.''