KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Monday night’s game against the Royals was postponed by rain two hours before the scheduled first pitch. Most of the Red Sox players were quick to get dressed and leave Kauffman Stadium in search of a good dinner.

But Ryan Hanigan put on his sneakers, grabbed a bat, and got in a few rounds of batting practice in the cage adjacent to the visitor’s dugout.

As a catcher, Hanigan devotes much of his time to working with the pitchers. The opportunity to refine his swing with some extra work was something he couldn’t pass up.

“Catching has to come first, that’s always your main job. But any time you do something for yourself, it’s worthwhile,’’ Hanigan said. “I’m always trying to catch up offensively.’’

The catching aspect is sound. The Sox are 10-4 in games Hanigan has started, with the pitchers posting a 3.48 earned run average.

What makes that particularly impressive is Hanigan has caught Steven Wright six times and Triple A call-ups Henry Owens and Sean O’Sullivan a combined five times.

The Sox are 8-2 in those games.

“He hasn’t drawn the easy straw by any means, particularly with Steven,’’ manager John Farrell said. “He’s a hard-nosed player . . . I think our guys have fed off the way he goes about the game.’’

Before Wright, Hanigan had never caught a knuckleballer. He immediately threw himself into the job.

“I put a lot of mental energy into catching Steven for the first two or three weeks,’’ Hanigan said. “I got on board with what he was doing. I was catching his [bullpen sessions between starts] and spending a lot of time with him. I started catching him in the bullpen on my own. I just went out there and threw myself in the fire.

“It consumed a lot of effort, getting on the same page with the knuckleball. But Steven has helped us so much, it has paid off.’’

Catching a knuckleball is more physically taxing, too.

Because of the unpredictable nature of the pitch, Hanigan sets up almost like he’s getting ready to throw to second base.

“I’m always in an action stance, even when no one’s on, because I feel it’s the best chance I have to catch the ball,’’ he said. “If I sit back and relax, I’ll get eaten up. It’s not a restful position for your legs. I also turn my hip in a little bit to get at a better angle.’’

Hanigan hopped of a stool to demonstrate the difference.

“You’ve got to be more ready,’’ he said. “You can’t just chill and wait for the pitch.’’

Catching Wright also required an equipment change.

Knuckleball pitchers usually provide oversized mitts for their catchers, baseball’s version of a butterfly net. Wright has several models to choose from and Hanigan has tried them all.

“I’m real finicky about my glove. I’m still trying to trying to find a mitt I like to use with Steven and break it in the way I want it,’’ Hanigan said. “It’s not where I would like it. If I knew before the season I was going to catch him, I would have spent a lot more time on the glove.’’

The knuckleball sometimes spins out of the mitt, which is nerve-racking with men on base.

“That’s not a fun thing,’’ Hanigan said. “You have to do the best you can. He had one mitt that was super broken-in but that was too flimsy. I’m using a stiffer one. The ball seems to fall straight down now. That’s better.’’

Hanigan was charged with seven passed balls in the first three games he caught Wright, none in the three starts since.

When the Red Sox decided to activate Christian Vazquez from the disabled list April 15, Hanigan’s reliability was part of the equation. Trusting Hanigan to catch two out of every five games allowed the Red Sox to ease Vazquez back into playing regularly coming off Tommy John elbow surgery.

“We’ve always viewed the catching position as a two-man job,’’ Farrell said. “Ryan is certainly more than your traditional backup. That played heavily into being able to bring Christian back when we did.’’

Hanigan is hitting .196 with a .523 OPS over 15 games and 56 plate appearances. But he has driven in six runs in his last three games, four against the Astros on Sunday.

Hanigan also leads the Red Sox with 4.34 pitches per plate appearance and runs the bases aggressively, if not necessarily with great speed.

“His talents are obvious. He has veteran experience. The competitive spirit that he has and his blue-collar approach . . . Hanny’s place on our club is a prominent one from every aspect,’’ Farrell said.

Hanigan has played parts of 10 seasons in the majors and been to the playoffs three times. The goal now is to get there with the Red Sox, the team he rooted for while growing up.

“Oh, man. That would be epic,’’ said Hanigan, who attended Andover High. “This group of guys, we’ve been around each other for a year or so now and we’re developing that good rapport, that good chemistry. We have a good team and we’re having fun. It could be a special year.’’

?Sox rained out in KC. D5

Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com.