Christian Vazquez

[The Gray Eagle]

(I did a search of this forum and no Vazquez prospect topic came up, so I am starting one. If there already is one that didn't come up in search, then hopefully a mod will move this post to that thread.)
 
Christian Vazquez is a 5'9" RH catcher. Born August 21, 1990 in Bayamon, PR.
 
As of this writing, he is at AA Portland, with a line of 280/369/395 in 316 PAs. He's had good reviews on his defensive game, particularly his quick throws to second base. From spring training:
"Vazquez, who is ranked the organization's No. 16 prospect by MLB.com, was credited with a time of 1.82 seconds on the play, said manager John Farrell. That is about as quick as a catcher can possibly be while throwing out a runner.
"Just outstanding feet, quick release, plenty of arm strength and accuracy," Farrell said after the Red Sox's 2-0 loss. "This is probably the fourth guy he's cut down in Spring Training and all of the same variety. He's confident when he throws a baseball, and that shows in the accuracy and the quickness with which he releases the ball."
 
His Sox Prospects page scouting report describes him thusly: "Plus defensive catcher with a strong, wide frame and solid agility behind the plate. Quick release, plus-to-better arm. Consistently timed quicker than 1.9 seconds on throws to second base. Struggled in the past blocking balls in the dirt, but has made strong strides improving with controlling his body to front offerings."
 
As a hitter, he's showing good plate patience. He hasn't shown much power yet, but he is still 22, and more might come as he hits his mid-20s.
 
From Peter Gammons' new website, a short piece on Christian Vazquez that calls him a "rising star."

 

[Harry Hooper]

"Just outstanding feet, quick release, plenty of arm strength and accuracy," 
 

 
 
 
Exactly what he impressively demonstrated in ST. Very strong arm and puts it right down where the fielder can apply the tag.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez starts the season in AAA. He'll be splitting time behind the plate with Butler and Lavarnway, with one of them probably being a DH often, and Lavarnway playing some first base too.
 
Vazquez finished last season with a 287/375/391 slash line in the minors. 48 walks to only 44 Ks is quite promising. He turns 24 on August 21st.
 
Vazquez's arm impressed in Spring Training, so hopefully he'll continue to hit at AAA this year. With two 37-year-old catchers in Boston, there could very likely be a need for one of the three AAA guys to be called up at some point.
 
Here is his milb.com minor league player page.

 

[5dice]

Besides the over-discussed arm, his game prep and work with pitchers is also said to be a plus.
From BP blurb: "his coaches laud him for his precocious handling of the pitching staff."  I take precocious here to be used as the most sincere form of a loaded word--that he is ahead the curve for his age.
 

edit: bad quoter
 

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez had a couple good games early in the season but has since gone on a 3 for 23 drought. Overall he is hitting .235/.270/.353 in his first 34 at-bats. He only has 2 walks to go with 5 Ks, but he does have 4 doubles so far. 

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez is 9 for his last 25 to get his season numbers up to a decent 281/329/422. No homers yet but 9 doubles in 64 at-bats. 

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez finishes the month with an overall line of .292/.342/.417. 6 BB to 13 K. Solid offensive start in AAA for him.

 

[Drek717]

Really good to see Vazquez starting AAA well.  Last year his AA line for April was .250/.394/.365.  He saw a bit of a power surge in May, slumped hard in June, then ended the season with very strong July and August numbers, August being his best month all season.  So he isn't one of those historically fast start guys who taper as the season goes on.
 
It will be very interesting to see if his BA:OBP delta trends back to his career norms of around .080, and if so is it a product of his BA dropping down or his OBP going up.  If his BA can stick in the .270-.280 range while getting that split back into the .070-.080 range he'll be a valuable offensive catcher, not to mention a defensive wiz.
 
I personally think there is a high likelihood that Swihart will need positional versatility more than Mookie Betts because Vazquez isn't looking like he's going to be the offensive black hole that would be required to off-set his elite defense.
 
A half decade of Vazquez for 100-120 games at catcher with Swihart as the #2 while also playing some DH and super sub at 1B, 2B, 3B, LF, and RF would be pretty awesome.

 

[Mighty Joe Young]

Really good to see Vazquez starting AAA well.  Last year his AA line for April was .250/.394/.365.  He saw a bit of a power surge in May, slumped hard in June, then ended the season with very strong July and August numbers, August being his best month all season.  So he isn't one of those historically fast start guys who taper as the season goes on.
 
It will be very interesting to see if his BA:OBP delta trends back to his career norms of around .080, and if so is it a product of his BA dropping down or his OBP going up.  If his BA can stick in the .270-.280 range while getting that split back into the .070-.080 range he'll be a valuable offensive catcher, not to mention a defensive wiz.
 
I personally think there is a high likelihood that Swihart will need positional versatility more than Mookie Betts because Vazquez isn't looking like he's going to be the offensive black hole that would be required to off-set his elite defense.
 
A half decade of Vazquez for 100-120 games at catcher with Swihart as the #2 while also playing some DH and super sub at 1B, 2B, 3B, LF, and RF would be pretty awesome.

 
Doesn't Swihart also have a reputation as a very good defensive catcher? And he projects ti be a better hitter than Vazquez

 

[Snodgrass'Muff]

Yes, but Vazquez is much closer and more likely to stick at the major league level.  A year from now, Swihart might be the more likely primary catcher, but he's still too far from the majors to be betting hard on.

 

[Drek717]

 
Doesn't Swihart also have a reputation as a very good defensive catcher? And he projects ti be a better hitter than Vazquez

I've always seen Swihart evaluated as an exceptional athlete who is still learning how to catch.  He was a general athlete in HS who has only been a full time catcher since joining the Sox farm system.  Meanwhile Vazquez started catching when he was 8 by mimicking an Ivan Rodriguez video, comes from Puerto Rico where there is a long history of turning out elite defensive catchers, and now spends his off-seasons training with two of the Molina brothers.
 
My view is basically this: a ML club needs two catchers who will likely have something between a 2:1 to 3:1 split in games played if the #1 guy is a legitimate ML starting catcher (which both of these guys profile to be).  Therefore it is in the Sox best interest to ensure the guy doing most of the catching is the best defensive catcher possible.  That would be Vazquez.  At the same time as a general rule you want your best offensive players to see as many plate appearances as possible, which suggests that even the non-Yadi Molina full time catching job of ~120 games a year still quite possibly shorts the Sox offense of one of it's better bats for 42 games a year (Swihart).
 
End conclusion is that Vazquez has huge value as a full time catcher while Swihart's value is not substantially damaged as a part time catcher/utility IF/DH type if his bat reaches it's full potential.  If it doesn't Swihart likely becomes a less valuable player than Vazquez and therefore works just fine as a strictly depth player.

 

[JimBoSox9]

It's really really unlikely you'll see the #2 catcher penciled in for supersub duties on anything other than an emergency basis. They'd have to LOVE Blake's bat and carry three catchers.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Assuming both actually reach the majors with the Red Sox, whichever one projects to provide the most value (offensive and defensive) to the team is going to become the starting catcher and the other guy is going to be a backup catcher.  I think its basically as simple as that.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez at 279/339/365 on the season now in 104 at-bats. 10 BB to 20K. Not slugging much at all, with 0 extra base hits in his last 10 games. But he is still getting on base decently.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez slumped a bit in May, but broke out of it by going 6 for 14 over the weekend. His season numbers: 268/315/340. His walk rate has dropped, as he's only walked once in his last 10 games, while whiffing 10 times. On the season, he has 11 walks and 30 Ks. Only 11 doubles, 0 triples and 0 homers on the year in 153 at-bats. 

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez is up to 271/326/372 for the season. 16 walks to 41 Ks. 2 HRs, both this month. 
 
He had a lousy May, with a .547 OPS, but in June he's sporting an .833 OPS, which actually was higher before he went 1 for his last 9. He's also walked 5 times in his last 6 games, which is nice to see. He's only slugging 372, which is hurting his overall OPS, but a lot of that is due to the May slump, as he slugged .417 in April and is slugging .471 in June.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez is on a 6-game hitting streak (9 for 22) to put his season numbers at .278/.333/.386.
 
His lousy May brings down his overall numbers.
 
His OPS by month: .758, .547, .848, .728. OBP by month: .342, .284, .368, .353.

 

[Eck'sSneakyCheese]

Vazquez is on a 6-game hitting streak (9 for 22) to put his season numbers at .278/.333/.386.
 
His lousy May brings down his overall numbers.
 
His OPS by month: .758, .547, .848, .728. OBP by month: .342, .284, .368, .353.

Since May 30th the kids hitting .314 with a .842 OPS. I think the no bat meme has got to come to an end. Along with the AJP era in Boston.

 

[benhogan]

This team would be so much more interesting with Vasquez @ C, Betts in RF, JBJ in CF, Holt @3B, Xander @ SS and Workman/RDR in the rotation.  Really can't stomach AJP, Drew and Peavy anymore.  We are wasting good development time at the major league level for our prospects. And I'm not altogether unsure if our winning % would take a hit by playing the kids.

 

[Drek717]

This team would be so much more interesting with Vasquez @ C, Betts in RF, JBJ in CF, Holt @3B, Xander @ SS and Workman/RDR in the rotation.  Really can't stomach AJP, Drew and Peavy anymore.  We are wasting good development time at the major league level for our prospects. And I'm not altogether unsure if our winning % would take a hit by playing the kids.

That to me is the real head scratcher on why the FO isn't aggressively looking to find new homes for those vets and if they aren't found by the deadline simply releasing them.
 
AJP is sunk cost and Vazquez needs to get work in with the ML pitching staff before 2015 if we want to hit the ground running next year.  I'm willing to bet that Ross would serve as the better mentor so the decision on which catcher to drop isn't that hard.  Meanwhile Swihart is looking like a man in the middle of a revelation in AA, killing it in all phases.  Showing that his defense behind the dish might not be just passable but actually plus, that switch hitting isn't a desperate attempt by a LH batter who can't hit lefties from that side of the plate, and that he has the full compliment offensively of very nice contact, some solid plate discipline, and emerging power.  He isn't looking long for the minor leagues, it sure would be nice to see what Vazquez is capable of before making the two of them compete for playing time.

 

[Savin Hillbilly]

That to me is the real head scratcher on why the FO isn't aggressively looking to find new homes for those vets and if they aren't found by the deadline simply releasing them.

 
How do we know they aren't? Those are not easy guys to sell. The vets we have that would be easy to sell, we don't necessarily want to sell.

 

[Drek717]

 
How do we know they aren't? Those are not easy guys to sell. The vets we have that would be easy to sell, we don't necessarily want to sell.

Valid point.  Hopefully they are and something breaks their way sooner than later.

 

[The Gray Eagle]

Vazquez finishes this AAA stint at 279/336/385 in 244 at-bats. 17 doubles, 3 HRs, 21 BB 52 Ks.
 
Onward Christian, to the Show! No matter how bad he struggles, let's all remember one thing: He is NOT AJ Pierzynski.

 

[benhogan]

That to me is the real head scratcher on why the FO isn't aggressively looking to find new homes for those vets and if they aren't found by the deadline simply releasing them.
 
AJP is sunk cost and Vazquez needs to get work in with the ML pitching staff before 2015 if we want to hit the ground running next year.  I'm willing to bet that Ross would serve as the better mentor so the decision on which catcher to drop isn't that hard.  Meanwhile Swihart is looking like a man in the middle of a revelation in AA, killing it in all phases.  Showing that his defense behind the dish might not be just passable but actually plus, that switch hitting isn't a desperate attempt by a LH batter who can't hit lefties from that side of the plate, and that he has the full compliment offensively of very nice contact, some solid plate discipline, and emerging power.  He isn't looking long for the minor leagues, it sure would be nice to see what Vazquez is capable of before making the two of them compete for playing time.

Looks like we are getting what we want here. I also like Holt getting some starts at SS, lets see if he really is a super sub. He'd be extremely valuable if he plays an average SS.