The Big Question for the Minnesota Twins' Catchers: Can They Do That Again?

For the first time in almost three decades, the 2023 season saw Twins have only two catchers on the roster for the entire season. Ryan Jeffers exceeded expectations, but Christian Vázquez did not meet the ones set by his three-year free-agent deal.

Through good and bad, though, Jeffers and Vázquez posted every day of the campaign. The last season the Twins saw that happen was back in 1995, when the likes of Matt Wallbeck and Matt Merullo shared the bulk of catching duties.

That shows what a rarity it is to have two healthy catchers all season in baseball, especially in today’s game. It’s doubtful the Twins will see Jeffers and Vázquez remain healthy all season again in 2024, which is why the 40-man roster now has a third catcher: Jair Camargo. 

Camargo provides the third, stabilizing leg of the team's catching tripod, but by using an extreme alternating approach to keep each of the primary backstops fresh, the Twins will hope to run the whole of their marathon on just two legs once again.

Ryan Jeffers
Jeffers put back-to-back disappointing seasons at the plate behind him in 2023. He and former teammate Mitch Garver led all catchers in MLB with a minimum of 300 plate appearances, with a 134 OPS+. 

Jeffers stood alone as the best-hitting catcher for batting average on balls in play, with a .359 BABIP good for third-best on the Twins, behind Edouard Julien's team-leading .371 and Donovan Solano's .366.  

These numbers are just small indicators of the massive leap Jeffers took for himself in 2023 and where he’s set himself up to be in 2024. A year after the team spent $30 million to push him out of the primary gig, Jeffers is (if the Twins will have such a thing) the starting catcher, at a quarter of Vázquez's annual salary.

Of course, injuries can always change this up at some point in the season. Still, the 27-year-old has finally landed himself in the role he showed the potential to seize when he first broke into MLB.

The hope is for Jeffers to keep climbing the offensive ladder with more playing time and a fully healthy season. With more plate appearances expected to come his way, there's every reason to believe Jeffers can reach 20 home runs on the season and hit for a slightly better average.

The one part of his hitting approach that can still see growth in 2024 is his ability to draw walks and cut down on his strikeouts. Jeffers fanned in 27.8 percent of his plate appearances last year, which hardly made him an outlier in the team's whifftastic mélange but did temper the enthusiasm of advanced metrics and projection systems.

Following his 2023 performance Jeffers is likely to be the Twins' Opening Day catcher for 2024. 

Christian Vázquez 
Vázquez’s story in 2023 was the complete opposite of Jeffers's. He arrived in Minnesota fresh off a World Series championship with the Houston Astros, the second ring of his career. He also had a solid season at the plate (for a catcher) in 2022, posting a .274/.315/.399 slash between the Astros and Red Sox.

Those numbers would have been a delight to see, compared to his actual 2023 results: .223/.280/.318. His OPS+ was second-worst among catchers with at least 300 plate appearances in the league, at a measly 65. 

Vázquez arrived at camp in what he’s claimed to be “the best shape of his life”, as he told reporters upon his arrival. He spent the offseason training at Driveline’s facilities in Washington, retooling his approach at the plate and improving his conditioning. 

There is reason to believe his time with Driveline over the winter will permit a turnaround from the veteran's worst season in the majors. The time he put in at the Mecca of baseball training facilities will effect changes in his approach, but time will tell how these changes to his swing and routine pay off in the 2024 season. 

The edge in playing time behind the plate will favor Jeffers to start the season. Manager Rocco Baldelli believes in keeping his catchers fresh and healthy by balancing their workload; that's unlikely to change.

Jair Camargo 
Camargo’s on the doorstep of making his MLB debut in 2024, and it’s more a matter of 'when' than of 'if'. He had his best professional season with the St. Paul Saints in 2023, playing in a career-high 90 games, hitting 21 home runs with 63 runs batted in, and posting an .826 OPS in 368 plate appearances. 

His bat speed caught some momentum in 2023, leading to more power at the plate. Having a hitter-friendly ballpark for half the games at CHS Field was another helping hand in getting more power established. 

The one area at the plate where Camarago could still see growth while he’s getting more at-bats is drawing walks. He only had 29, to his 119 strikeouts 

Camargo has not had the opportunity to show if he can replicate these numbers in the majors yet. His role with the Twins in 2024 will be that of the third-string catcher, waiting at one end of the Green Line for the call from the other. Camargo will begin 2024 with the Saints, and as long as his performance is similar to last year's, he'll be the first call-up if Jeffers or Vázquez misses time. The big question is whether that will happen, or whether these two durable vets will continue to show up ready for work each day, thanks to an aggressive style of catcher time-sharing.

All three of these catchers present strong outlooks for their 2024 seasons. If all goes as it did for the Twins behind the plate a year ago, they shouldn’t need more than these three all year.