Ryan Jeffers, Christian Vazquez To Split Catching Duties
Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said on Saturday that he expects catchers Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez to split playing time close to evenly this year. The Twins signed Vazquez to a three-year, $30 million deal last winter, but the 33-year-old veteran had the worst season of his career, hitting .223 (73-for-327) with six homers and 32 RBI, while Jeffers batted .276 (79-for-286) with a career-high-tying 14 homers and 43 RBI. As a result, the 26-year-old Jeffers became the team's starting catcher for the postseason. Vazquez worked hard on his swing and body this offseason, but Jeffers earned more playing time with a strong second half in 2023. At this point, the younger Jeffers has more offensive upside, but with an even timeshare expected, neither catcher is all that attractive for two-catcher leagues in fantasy.
Minnesota Twins veteran catcher Christian Vazquez has improved bat speed and is more fit in spring training this year as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2023 season after signing a three-year, $30 million deal with the team in December of 2022. Ryan Jeffers took over the lead duties behind the dish over Vazquez later in the year when Vazquez slumped and finished with a .598 OPS in the worst season of his career. The 33-year-old struck out more than ever last year and had the second-lowest slugging percentage of his career. Vazquez got a late start to his offseason workouts last year after playing in the World Series in 2022 with the Astros, and he thinks the lack of preparation affected him in his first year in Minnesota. A bounce-back is possible, but it could be more difficult with Vazquez expected to split time evenly with Jeffers in 2024.
Minnesota Twins catcher Christian Vazquez is not in the starting lineup for Game 2 of the wild-card series on Wednesday against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. Instead, Ryan Jeffers will catch right-hander Sonny Gray and bat eighth against Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios. Jeffers has started the first two games of the postseason behind the plate for the Twins and he went 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout in the Game 1 victory, which snapped an 18-game playoff losing streak for the Twins, dating back to 2004. Jeffers will be looking to turn things around against Berrios, as he's gone 0-for-5 against him in his career to this point with four strikeouts.
Jose Miranda, Christian Vazquez Not Starting Wednesday
Minnesota Twins third baseman Jose Miranda and catcher Christian Vazquez are getting the day off on Wednesday versus the visiting Kansas City Royals. Donovan Solano is starting at the hot corner and batting sixth, while Ryan Jeffers will do the catching and hit in the nine-hole against Royals right-hander Alec Marsh. Miranda recently returned from the minors with Royce Lewis (oblique) going on the injured list, but he's gone hitless in seven at-bats in three games. The 25-year-old has disappointed so far in 38 games for the Twins this year, hitting .209 (29-for-139) with three homers and 13 RBI. Vazquez also has done very little offensively in his first year in Minnesota, hitting .217 (38-for-175) with one homer and 17 RBI in 57 games.
Minnesota Twins catcher Christian Vazquez is out of the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Baltimore Orioles. He'll take a seat after going hitless with two walks over his last two games. The 32-year-old has underachieved this year at the plate, but has a good track record, so maybe he'll return it around. On Friday, Ryan Jeffers will draw the start behind the plate and bat seventh versus right-hander Dean Kremer.
Minnesota Twins backstop Christian Vazquez is out of the lineup for Sunday's contest against Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels. The 32-year-old has been productive in the past but owns just a .235/.307/.265 slash line with no homers over 31 games this season. Ryan Jeffers is behind the plate in his place and batting ninth. The former second-rounder has thump in his bat but has gone deep just once so far through 23 games with a .250 average. Fantasy managers looking for a catcher can stream Jeffers and hope he starts to find his power stroke.
Minnesota Twins catcher Christian Vazquez is out of the lineup for Saturday's showdown with the Cubs. The 32-year-old hasn't been a routine presence in the lineup of late. However, there likely aren't too many upset fantasy managers, especially since he has just one hit in May. Ryan Jeffers will be behind home plate for this one and will bat against Hayden Wesneski for the first time in his career.
Minnesota Twins catcher Christian Vazquez is not in Wednesday's starting lineup versus the Chicago White Sox and right-hander Dylan Cease. The veteran backstop went hitless with a strikeout in four trips to the plate in Tuesday's series opener and will sit against a tough right-hander in Cease. Vazquez continues to grade out as an above-average defender but he's struggled with the bat out of the gate. The 32-year-old is hitting .246 without a homer and just three doubles for his lone extra-base knocks across 77 trips to the plate on the season. He's uncharacteristically struck out in 27.3% of his plate appearances on the season as Ryan Jeffers gets the start behind the plate Wednesday and will hit ninth against Cease.
The Minnesota Twins agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal with free-agent catcher Christian Vazquez on Monday. Vazquez began last season with the Boston Red Sox before being traded to the World Series-champion Houston Astros. The 32-year-old veteran backstop hit a combined .274/.315/.399 with nine home runs, 52 RBI, 41 runs scored and a stolen base in 426 plate appearances over 119 games played. He was one of the better hitting catchers in fantasy in 2022 and had a career-high 23 long balls as recently as 2019 in Boston. With the Twins, Vazquez should become the regular catcher next season and beyond while sharing time with Ryan Jeffers at the position. In eight major-league campaigns, Vazquez has a .261/.310/.386 slash line with 55 home runs and 276 RBI.
Trey Mancini, Christian Vazquez Starting On Saturday
Houston Astros first baseman Trey Mancini and catcher Christian Vazquez are in the starting lineup for Game 6 of the World Series on Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies and right-hander Zack Wheeler. Mancini is getting the nod at first and batting seventh after the Astros removed Yuli Gurriel (knee) from the World Series roster due to an injury he suffered in Game 5 on Thursday. Vazquez is serving as the designated hitter and will bat sixth in the order. Mancini has gone hitless in his first 18 playoff at-bats over seven games with an RBI, a walk and seven strikeouts. Vazquez has played in five games (two starts) this postseason and has gone 3-for-14 with two RBI, a run scored, one walk and six strikeouts.
