The Minnesota Twins have a pretty storied tradition when it comes to their catchers. Well, the peak is certainly sky-high, at the very least. There have been many iconic performances at the plate. Earl Battey swatted 26 home runs and accrued nearly five wins above replacement in the 1963 season. In 2019, Mitch Garver scorched 31 long balls in only 93 games. Sure, the balls were injected with Flubber that year. But nevertheless, he sported the best clip among all catchers that season. If you want to hear about all of the incredible accolades that Joe Mauer racked up while playing for his hometown club, you can meet me under his retired number plaque at Target Field.
The Twins have turned to a two-time world champion in Christian Vázquez to lead their catching tandem this year. Ryan Jeffers returns as the second half of that split. Still, he doesn’t yet boast the defensive prowess nor the post-season pedigree that Vázquez carries.
So will the new backstop fall into the same conversation as Battey, Mauer, and Garver? Or into the black hole that consumed the likes of Gary Sánchez, Josmil Pinto and Juan Centeno? The answer is probably somewhere in between. But the outlook points to positivity if the first week and a half is any indication of things to come.
Not only is Vazquez holding his own with the bat, but he’s showing signs of improving the club around him, too. The proof is in the pudding, especially when it comes to the pitching staff.
Heading into Monday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, Twins pitching held the top rank when it came to strikeout rate (32%), and ranked runner-up for opponent batting average (.200) and team ERA (2.48). Are those figures likely to remain throughout the season? Of course not, but they set the tone for what this staff can do with a bona fide champion behind the plate.
Vazquez is hardly the only variable that has contributed to early pitching success. However, it’s impossible to leave him out of the pie chart of praise. He currently finds himself in the 96th percentile for pitch framing, a field where he has been solidly above average every year of his career. That was a huge factor in their pursuit of the 32-year-old in the onset of the off-season. As Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic wrote in his piece when the Twins announced Vázquez’s signing, it’s a mold that this front office has also sought in the past.
“It’s very similar to [Derek] Falvey’s first major move upon taking over the Twins’ front office six off-seasons ago, when they signed 30-year-old catcher Jason Castro to a three-year, $24.5 million contract,” he wrote. “Now, as with Castro then, the Twins value Vázquez’s defensive skills, durability and average hitting relative to the position, and see him as a positive, respected voice in the clubhouse as well.”
Apparently that cocktail of veteran leadership and stellar pitch-framing has led to a boost in strikeouts for a pitching staff desperately needed punch out power after the 2022 season. Many will say that the staff is playing up due to below-average competition. That might be true when it comes to teams such as the Kansas City Royals and Miami Marlins. However the Astros had just a 19.5% strikeout rate last season, second-best in MLB behind the Cleveland Guardians. They won the World Series on the backs of their hitters, many of whom returned to the team this season.
But in their three-game series against the Twins, the returning champs struck out 40 times, 33 of which occurred with Vazquez behind the dish.
Small sample aside, that’s firepower from Twins pitchers as a collective that hasn’t been seen in quite some time. Much development has certainly come from the pitchers themselves, but Vazquez’s influence also deserves its kudos.
An underrated aspect of Vazquez’s inclusion in Minnesota’s plans for the next few seasons is the benefit of easing Jeffers into a regular MLB role. He’s shown flashes of above-average play at a premium position, but letting him focus on favorable matchups against mostly left-handed pitching could massage that development. That way he gets a boost to his stat line and the Twins can take some of the weight off his shoulders while remaining competitive.
Guys like Battey, Mauer, and Garver accomplished unbelievable feats in their time behind the dish for the Twins. It’s unlikely that Vázquez will impress with his bat enough to be considered alongside those top slugging backstops. But he was acquired with the notion that he would improve the club around him with plus-framing, strong work ethic, and leadership intangibles.
And in this young 2023 season, he seems to be doing just that.
