Christian Vázquez Isn’t Producing, but He’s Not Going Anywhere

[Matthew Taylor]

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

When the Twins brought in Christian Vázquez before the 2023 season, they knew the bat might not be a strength. The hope was that his defense, leadership, and experience would carry the load. But in his third season with the team, even that intentionally imbalanced profile is starting to break down.Vázquez is slashing .186/.256/.292, with an OPS+ of 53, and the numbers have only gotten worse as the season has progressed. In June, he is hitting just .111 with a pair of extra-base hits. It’s shaping up to be the worst offensive season of his career.

The more surprising drop-off has come on defense. His caught-stealing rate and pop time have steadily declined, and this year his pitch framing has taken a steep hit. After ranking in the 70th percentile for pitch framing in 2023 and the 84th percentile in 2024, he currently sits in just the 21st percentile. Defense was supposed to be his calling card. Now that, too, is becoming a concern.

Still, the Twins continue to give him regular work. Vázquez has started 35 of the team’s 73 games this season, nearly identical to his usage in 2023, when he started 52 percent of their games. While Ryan Jeffers has been the more productive option, the Twins have shown reluctance to fully shift the catching workload in his favor. That may be partly to protect Jeffers’s health, since he has provided offensive value and has often slotted in as the designated hitter. He was also recently banged up again after taking a foul ball off the hand, and while X-rays were negative, the team has kept him out of the starting lineup since. If anything were to sideline Jeffers further, the Twins would be left with little choice but to lean even more on Vázquez.

The idea of simply moving on from Vázquez is not so simple. He is a free agent at the end of the season, but the Twins do not have a ready-made replacement behind him. Jair Camargo has already seen a brief call-up, but is struggling in Triple-A with a .577 OPS. Mickey Gasper is more of an emergency option than someone who would be expected to contribute behind the plate. Diego Cartaya, a former top prospect acquired earlier this year, has barely played and has been even less effective than Camargo when he has. Noah Cardenas has impressed in Double-A with an .825 OPS, but with just five games played above that level, he is not a realistic candidate for the near future.

A trade could be a possibility. Twins Daily's Cody Schoenmann recently outlined an option, a demoted catcher from the Red Sox system. If the Twins are serious about upgrading the position, that might be the most realistic route.

For now, though, Vázquez remains on the roster and in the lineup. The numbers are what they are, but he continues to be highly respected within the clubhouse. Pitchers praise his game management and experience, and the staff’s ERA with him behind the plate is an impressive 3.22, compared to 4.45 with Jeffers. That stat is far from definitive, but it does speak to the trust he has earned with the pitching staff.

Vázquez has drawn plenty of criticism from fans this season, and many of the concerns are fair. At age 34, with offensive production cratering and defensive metrics slipping, a rebound does not feel especially likely. But at least for now, the Twins may not have a better option. Like it or not, that means he’s probably not going anywhere.

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What should the Twins do behind the plate? Can they afford to keep things as-is, or is it time to get creative? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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[Mark G]

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, the game of baseball accepted 2 positions with little offense, as long as their defense was stellar; SS and catcher (occasionally, if you could afford it, center field).  If your defense was strong up the middle, I mean really strong up the middle, you leaned on your corners for offense.  If you look at the Twins when Vas, CC, Buck, and a decent 2nd baseman are in the lineup, I would consider us very strong up the middle defensively.  Buck is certainly capable of giving us the offense, but lately the rest of the quartet has been down.  Are our corners able to make up for it?  If not, there is always the option of finding corners who hit rather than prioritizing offense up the middle.  I don't mind Vas behind the plate; as the article said, the pitchers have always seemed to trust him.  I don't know how much longer he will hold up as a major league catcher, but if he would take a pay cut (a considerable pay cut?) I would not be upset if we brought him back for another year or two.  Either that or make the trade necessary to bring in a long term solution, something this FO has not been willing and/or able to do so far.  

Something tells me I am going to be a majority of one on this, so I will duck now. 😵 

[thelanges5]

Vazqy has been a sunk cost for some time now. I’m not alone in saying that the future is much more concerning than the present. Who catches with Jeffers in 26 and beyond? Trading for someone like Wong is a good option. Otherwise we will be signing a McCann/Stallings type during the off season. 

[Linus]

I’m always leery when a players greatest attributes are intangibles. He’s cooked and his level of production is easily replaced. Finding a good catcher, Thats a problem. 

[Doctor Gast]

Many don't realize the years of work that's involved for catchers to get to know their pitching staff & to get that edge. So I prefer for the Twins if possible to bring up promising catchers alongside their promising pitchers, But that hasn't happened. Maybe the most promising catcher we have in the system is Noah Cardenas, who hasn't caught any of our pitchers & probably won't see any MLB time this year. 

While we are fortunate that both Jeffers & Vazquez have been healthy, even so it's hard for them to stay fresh to maintain their performance. It's to the Twins advantage to keep both because of their experience with our pitchers. But I still think, for the Twins to pick up a promising young catcher to get familiar with our pitchers & supplement our duo.

[nicksaviking]

You move on, even if it's just to get the bad taste out of your mouth. You can get equally terrible free agent or waiver wire catchers for the same price or cheaper, I don't understand why there'd be any draw to keep this one. I mean, he clearly can't help the team, so at MINIMUM him being on the roster will only serve to remind the remaining players that zero effort was made to search for improvement. Low team morale isn't going to help win games; at least PRETEND to make it look like you're trying something new.

I'm always confused by the fear of the unknown, and I'm doubly confused by the fear of the unknown when the known is proven to be a bad decision.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

I say we should listen to the pitchers who praise Vazquez. The pitchers know more about his contributions to the team than anyone of us.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Plus Rod Carew needs to have some bunt lesson sessions with Vasquez and Rocco needs to let him bunt runners over.

[AceWrigley]

Christian Vázquez Isn’t Producing, but He’s Not Going Anywhere.

Welcome to Twinsville.

[RpR]

7 hours ago, Mark G said:

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, the game of baseball accepted 2 positions with little offense, as long as their defense was stellar; SS and catcher (occasionally, if you could afford it, center field).  If your defense was strong up the middle, I mean really strong up the middle, you leaned on your corners for offense.  If you look at the Twins when Vas, CC, Buck, and a decent 2nd baseman are in the lineup, I would consider us very strong up the middle defensively.  Buck is certainly capable of giving us the offense, but lately the rest of the quartet has been down.  Are our corners able to make up for it?  If not, there is always the option of finding corners who hit rather than prioritizing offense up the middle.  I don't mind Vas behind the plate; as the article said, the pitchers have always seemed to trust him.  I don't know how much longer he will hold up as a major league catcher, but if he would take a pay cut (a considerable pay cut?) I would not be upset if we brought him back for another year or two.  Either that or make the trade necessary to bring in a long term solution, something this FO has not been willing and/or able to do so far.  

Something tells me I am going to be a majority of one on this, so I will duck now. 😵 

You are correct.

[RpR]

Vazquez is a better catcher than Jeffers,  it would be stupids to let him go.

[DJL44]

He's going to be even worse next season, so please don't think about bringing him back.

[Althebum82]

I dunno.  Seems to me we are overlooking Pat Winkels as an MLB option as soon as next season.  

But the time has definitely come to let go of Camargo.

[RpR]

5 minutes ago, Althebum82 said:

I dunno.  Seems to me we are overlooking Pat Winkels as an MLB option as soon as next season.  

But the time has definitely come to let go of Camargo.

Hmm, his minor league carreer is stopping 18 percent of base stealers. 

[Mike Sixel]

4 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I say we should listen to the pitchers who praise Vazquez. The pitchers know more about his contributions to the team than anyone of us.

Pitchers don't publicly say bad things. He's worse than awful on offense, and now bad at defense. This fear of replacing a very bad player is amazing to me. 

[Vanimal46]

I have a feeling we will have a completely different view of the catcher position once ABS is implemented 

[RpR]

34 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Pitchers don't publicly say bad things. He's worse than awful on offense, and now bad at defense. This fear of replacing a very bad player is amazing to me. 

Still better on defense than Jeffers.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

Pitchers don't publicly say bad things. He's worse than awful on offense, and now bad at defense. This fear of replacing a very bad player is amazing to me. 

I feel if the pitchers were unhappy with Vasky, the pitchers would not make any comments about him, but would remain silent rather that lying about it. Look at the ERA differences when Jeffers is catching and Vasky is catching.  in the article. How do you explain that?

[High heat]

I think this depends on where we are at or after the trade deadline.  If we are sellers and fringe contenders I think they can and will move on from Vasquez, maybe someone they bring in or just a major league tryout. 

[Major League Ready]

14 hours ago, RpR said:

Vazquez is a better catcher than Jeffers,  it would be stupids to let him go.

Vazquez has produced 1.6 WAR since joining the Twins.  Jeffers has produced 4.8 over the same period of time.  I guess in a world where catchers don't hit, you would have a point.  In this world, scoring runs matters.  Vasquez is a better defender but so bad offensively that he is considerably less valuable than Jeffers.

[Eris]

I have always been puzzled how a catcher can go from close to an elite pitch framer to really bad in one year. Maybe it’s the stat or maybe just bad umpiring. 
 

As others on TD have pointed out, the Twins draft strategy on catchers is puzzling. There is no position that is more important. 

[Whitey333]

The Twins catching duo of Vasquez and Jeffers is mediocre at best.  They apparently are part time catchers as they each catch roughly half the season.  My guess is Vas will be allowed to become a free agent

[chpettit19]

10 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I feel if the pitchers were unhappy with Vasky, the pitchers would not make any comments about him, but would remain silent rather that lying about it. Look at the ERA differences when Jeffers is catching and Vasky is catching.  in the article. How do you explain that?

At this point of the season it's pretty easily explained by small sample size. A couple blowup games can skew those numbers pretty significantly.

How do you explain the pitchers having better ERAs with Jeffers than Vazquez each of the last 2 years?

[DJL44]

3 hours ago, Eris said:

I have always been puzzled how a catcher can go from close to an elite pitch framer to really bad in one year. Maybe it’s the stat or maybe just bad umpiring. 

There is a lot of randomness to pitch framing, especially now as umpires are more aware of it. I'm not sure it is even a repeatable skill or if we're just measuring noise among players who are equally good at it.

The pitcher also matters. To make framing effective, the pitcher needs to hit the mitt.

[Mike Sixel]

12 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I feel if the pitchers were unhappy isn't real with Vasky, the pitchers would not make any comments about him, but would remain silent rather that lying about it. Look at the ERA differences when Jeffers is catching and Vasky is catching.  in the article. How do you explain that?

Catcher era isn't real. That's been shown in studies over and over. But go look at last year if you want....

[mickster]

16 hours ago, RpR said:

Vazquez is a better catcher than Jeffers,  it would be stupids to let him go.

I agree the need to develop a couple of catchers in the minors is desperately needed, but I am also on board with re-signing Vazquez as his market value will be considerably lower then current contract.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

5 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

At this point of the season it's pretty easily explained by small sample size. A couple blowup games can skew those numbers pretty significantly.

How do you explain the pitchers having better ERAs with Jeffers than Vazquez each of the last 2 years?

The catchers' ERA's probably have a lot to do with which pitchers each catcher regularly catches for.

[chpettit19]

23 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

The catchers' ERA's probably have a lot to do with which pitchers each catcher regularly catches for.

The Twins alternate their catchers so they get a pretty balanced diet of the rotation. For example, last year Ryan Jeffers caught Lopez, Ryan, and Ober for 254 innings. Vazquez caught them for 245 innings. Exactly 1 game difference over the course of the season. Not a large difference in innings caught by any means when it comes to the 3 main rotation arms. 

Those 3 gave up 210 hits with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 216 with Vazquez. 98 earned runs with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 119 with Vazquez. 38 HRs with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 34 with Vazquez. Had 269 Ks with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 267 with Vazquez. And gave up 45 walks with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 62 with Vazquez.

So, last year, with 9 innings caught difference, Jeffers ERA with those 3 was 3.47. Vazquez was 4.37. The pitchers gave up .83 hits per inning and .18 BBs per inning with Jeffers for a WHIP of 1.01. They gave up .88 hits and .25 BBs per inning with Vazquez for a WHIP of 1.13. They gave up .15 HRs per inning with Jeffers and .14 HRs per inning with Vazquez. K'd 1.06 per inning with Jeffers and 1.09 per inning with Vazquez.

The season before was more tilted in Vazquez's favor with those 3 as he had 264 innings with them compared to 236 for Jeffers. Those 3 gave up 205 hits with Jeffers catching compared to 251 with Vazquez. 82 earned runs compared to 132 with Vazquez. 29 HRs with Jeffers compared to 49 with Vazquez. Racked up 258 Ks with Jeffers compared to 319 with Vazquez. And gave up 51 walks with Jeffers compared to 60 with Vazquez.

That's an ERA of 3.13 for Jeffers and 4.50 for Vazquez. .87 hits and .22 walks for a 1.09 WHIP for Jeffers. .95 hits and .23 BBs for a 1.18 WHIP for Vazquez. .12 HRs per inning with Jeffers. .19 HRs per inning for Vazquez. 1.1 Ks per inning with Jeffers. 1.2 Ks per inning with Vazquez.

Do what you will with this info. I don't have time to do the whole staff, but Vazquez has had more time behind the plate with the Twins 3 best starters and by far 3 leading innings pitched guys since he's been here. And those guys have combined to be significantly better with Jeffers behind the plate during that time.

[RpR]

 

 

While Bill James was an early proponent of Catcher ERA (CERA) as a way to measure a catcher's impact on a pitching staff

, it's generally not widely used or considered a reliable metric in modern sabermetrics. 

 

Here's why:

• Reliability Issues: CERA has been shown to have significant year-to-year variation, making it difficult to assess a catcher's consistent ability using this stat alone. Research suggests that observed differences in CERA can be largely due to chance.
• Too Many Variables: CERA doesn't adequately control for external factors that influence ERA, such as:
  • The quality of the opposing team's offense
  • The quality of the individual pitchers being caught
  • Home or away game influence
  • Weather conditions
  • Pure luck
• Focus on Pitch Framing: Modern sabermetrics has shifted towards analyzing specific catcher defensive skills like pitch framing, which is the ability to subtly receive pitches in a way that makes them appear as strikes. Metrics like Called Strikes Above Average (CSAA) and Framing Runs Above Average (FRAA) are now used to quantify this skill. 

•  

 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

5 hours ago, chpettit19 said:

The Twins alternate their catchers so they get a pretty balanced diet of the rotation. For example, last year Ryan Jeffers caught Lopez, Ryan, and Ober for 254 innings. Vazquez caught them for 245 innings. Exactly 1 game difference over the course of the season. Not a large difference in innings caught by any means when it comes to the 3 main rotation arms. 

Those 3 gave up 210 hits with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 216 with Vazquez. 98 earned runs with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 119 with Vazquez. 38 HRs with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 34 with Vazquez. Had 269 Ks with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 267 with Vazquez. And gave up 45 walks with Jeffers behind the plate compared to 62 with Vazquez.

So, last year, with 9 innings caught difference, Jeffers ERA with those 3 was 3.47. Vazquez was 4.37. The pitchers gave up .83 hits per inning and .18 BBs per inning with Jeffers for a WHIP of 1.01. They gave up .88 hits and .25 BBs per inning with Vazquez for a WHIP of 1.13. They gave up .15 HRs per inning with Jeffers and .14 HRs per inning with Vazquez. K'd 1.06 per inning with Jeffers and 1.09 per inning with Vazquez.

The season before was more tilted in Vazquez's favor with those 3 as he had 264 innings with them compared to 236 for Jeffers. Those 3 gave up 205 hits with Jeffers catching compared to 251 with Vazquez. 82 earned runs compared to 132 with Vazquez. 29 HRs with Jeffers compared to 49 with Vazquez. Racked up 258 Ks with Jeffers compared to 319 with Vazquez. And gave up 51 walks with Jeffers compared to 60 with Vazquez.

That's an ERA of 3.13 for Jeffers and 4.50 for Vazquez. .87 hits and .22 walks for a 1.09 WHIP for Jeffers. .95 hits and .23 BBs for a 1.18 WHIP for Vazquez. .12 HRs per inning with Jeffers. .19 HRs per inning for Vazquez. 1.1 Ks per inning with Jeffers. 1.2 Ks per inning with Vazquez.

Do what you will with this info. I don't have time to do the whole staff, but Vazquez has had more time behind the plate with the Twins 3 best starters and by far 3 leading innings pitched guys since he's been here. And those guys have combined to be significantly better with Jeffers behind the plate during that time.

CH - Those figures you compiled in this post are amazing ! You took a lot of time to get these figures. I really appreciate your extraordinary efforts. Your post is really one of the most amazing posts I have ever read on TD's website.