The Portland Sea Dogs’ team bus pulled into the Hadlock Field parking lot at 5:30 a.m. Thursday after an all-night ride from Trenton, New Jersey.

Catcher Jake Romanski got to his host family’s house by 6:30 and was back at the field at 2 p.m.

Jake Romanski, who suffered a severe knee injury last August, has returned to not only again showcase his defensive ability, but is strutting early-season offense. Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

“I don’t think you ever get used to it,” Romanski said.

But Romanski adjusted Thursday night with two hits and four RBI in the home opener.

He’s a catcher with a hot bat, a rebuilt knee and a glass ceiling in the Red Sox organization.

Romanski, 25, is batting .450 in this young season. He’s also considered the best defensive catcher in Boston’s minor league system, according to Baseball America.

“He’s always been a talented kid,” Red Sox roving catching instructor Chad Epperson said. “Very good defender, very good hands, very good blocker.”

But we’ve heard Epperson talk about talented catchers before, who are also young and already in the major leagues – Blake Swihart, 24, and Christian Vazquez, 25. Vazquez is on the disabled list but could be activated Friday.

With Swihart and Vazquez appearing to be Boston’s present and future catchers, where does that leave Romanski?

“I just come to the field every day to play,” Romanski said. “If I show up, play as hard as I can, whatever happens, happens.”

What choice does he have?

“He’s in Portland to continue his development. He cannot look ahead,” Epperson said.

“We also saw what happened (with Vazquez missing last year with an elbow injury). You just continue to be ready and focus.”

Romanski can focus when he has to, like when he pushed himself to rebound from major knee surgery. Last summer, just three weeks after being promoted to the Sea Dogs, Romanski collapsed on the infield in Manchester, New Hampshire, holding his left knee.

“I was going into second base and I tried to avoid a tag,” Romanski said. It did not go well.

“I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). I had surgery Aug. 7. They went in and did a reconstruction.”

If there were questions about Romanski coming back, he answered them. He attacked his rehab assignment, working nonstop. By Jan. 1, Romanski was taking batting practice. A month later he was fielding.

“Actually catching with it feels great,” Romanski said. “It really loosens it up. Running was the hard part.”

But by March he was running, ready to go on the first day of exhibition games.

“He was the one guy in spring training that stuck out with a big-time sense of urgency,” Epperson said. “You can tell the way he rehabbed, the kind of focus he had. That just carried over into spring training.”

If there were doubts Romanski would make the Double-A roster, he answered them and arrived as the No. 1 catcher.

A career .265 hitter, Romanski is sizzling to start the year, 9 for 20 with a double and five RBI.

“Just getting good pitches to hit, finding a hole or two, hitting the ball hard,” he said.

Romanski was a 14th-round draft pick in 2013 out of San Diego State. His older brother Josh was a pitcher drafted five years earlier in the fourth round by the Brewers and is now an outfielder in the independent leagues.

Romanski has climbed through the Red Sox system, from Lowell to Greenville and Salem, and now Portland. His bat has been good enough and his defense strong.

“We’re just kind of continuing to work on play-calling, the ability to read swings,” Epperson said. “But he’s engaged. He’s really settled into the program.”

The Red Sox catching program is deep – headed by Swihart and Vazquez. Dan Butler, a former Sea Dogs catcher, is back in the Red Sox organization at Triple-A Pawtucket. The top Red Sox catching prospect may be Austin Rei, 22, a third-round draft pick last year. He’s in Greenville.

But Romanski’s stock is rising. He’s hitting well, albeit in a small sample, and he’s healthy.

Just think what he will do on a good night’s sleep.

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