{"id":116015,"date":"2026-03-20T20:41:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T00:41:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=116015"},"modified":"2026-03-20T20:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T00:41:21","slug":"how-christian-vasquez-signing-can-help-the-astros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/20\/how-christian-vasquez-signing-can-help-the-astros\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Christian V\u00e1zquez Signing Can Help the Astros"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s already past the middle of March, which means the Houston Astros are wrapping up spring training and getting ready for the season ahead in one week. The calendar rolling to March did not stop the Astros from making additional moves to further bolster their roster.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>While the Astros have <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/01\/05\/how-tatsuya-imai-officially-stabilizes-the-astros-pitching-rotation\/\" target=\"_self\">certainly improved<\/a> in a number of areas, one spot that needed some attention was the backup catcher spot. <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/diazya02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yainer Diaz<\/a> will now be in his third season manning the starting catcher spot, and it has been a mixed bag of results with him at the helm.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Astros signed <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/caratvi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Victor Caratini<\/a> back in 2024 as the second catcher after <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maldoma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mart\u00edn Maldonado<\/a> moved on, and it ended up being a great move. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/01\/27\/victor-caratini-signing-twins-astros\/\" target=\"_self\">Caratini was productive<\/a> as an experienced option, and the duo with Diaz worked out well. While Houston needs more <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/12\/31\/yainer-diazs-astros-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">consistency from Diaz<\/a>, having a good backup is always important during the long grind of the season.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"max-width: 610px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBoGaDQQC3\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 8256px; aspect-ratio: 8256\/5504;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h2>A New Catcher Option<\/h2>\n<p>After Caratini signed with the Minnesota Twins in January, the Astros finally addressed the backup catcher spot earlier this month. The key in this search was finding someone who had experience. Houston found what it was looking for with a familiar name.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Free agent catcher <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/v\/vazquch01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Christian V\u00e1zquez<\/a> and the Astros <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/news\/christian-vazquez-back-to-astros-on-minor-league-pact\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">came to an agreement<\/a> on a minor league contract. The former Astros catcher from 2022 begins his second stint in Houston. V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez won a World Series ring that season after being acquired at the 2022 trade deadline.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">The <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Astros?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Astros<\/a> are signing catcher Christian V\u00e1zquez to a minor-league deal with an invitation to major-league camp. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/0ePae7ccFm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/0ePae7ccFm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SleeperAstros (@SleeperAstros) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SleeperAstros\/status\/2030320194816483635?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Christian V\u00e1zquez\u2019s Time with the Astros<\/h2>\n<p>V\u00e1zquez chipped in during the 2022 postseason with four hits and three RBI. He only played 41 games total, including the playoffs, for the Astros, but they were meaningful. He had an RBI in Game 6 of the World Series and caught the combined no-hitter on the road in Game 4. The Astros allowed one run in the 33 innings V\u00e1zquez caught in the 2022 postseason.<\/p>\n<p>V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez was the starting catcher for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and just reported to Astros camp this week. He will be an interesting figure to keep an eye on. V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez hit .250 with a .586 OPS in the regular season. The two-time World Series champion (won in 2018 as the Boston Red Sox starting catcher) signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Minnesota Twins in December 2022 after his first stint with the Astros ended.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Even with ten years of Major League service, Christian V\u00e1zquez still feels like a novice at the World Baseball Classic. He shares more about the weight of carrying Puerto Rico across your chest, and listening to the advice of those around him. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zCjQX80uKh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/zCjQX80uKh<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLBPA (@MLBPA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLBPA\/status\/2032894671966326960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 14, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>His Recent Play<\/h2>\n<p>While his offensive production has consistently gone down for the past three seasons with the Twins, V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez can still be valuable for the Astros in a role as backup catcher behind Diaz. His contract is currently for the minor leagues, but with a good spring, the 35-year-old could make the big league team. V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez has played in two games so far in spring training and has gotten one hit, one RBI, and two walks in five at-bats.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>His only competition is likely to be <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/salazce01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cesar Salazar<\/a>, who has no more minor league options.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Astros Catcher Competition<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=janek-000wal&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Walker Janek<\/a> has shown some flashes so far this spring as a young minor league catcher, he still isn\u2019t a true option for the big league team like <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=perez-033car&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-03-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carlos Perez<\/a>, who is also in camp on a minor league deal. Salazar has 36 games of major league experience, but only a .232 average and .586 OPS in that time.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez hit just .215 with a .577 OPS in three seasons with the Twins and was the primary starting catcher the first two years. He moved into a backup catcher role in 2025 for his defense. V\u00e1zquez is obviously not the same hitter he was during his days with the Red Sox as one of their key players.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez\u2019s best season was back in 2019 when he hit 23 home runs and 72 RBI in 138 games. He had a .276 average and .797 OPS.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez\u2019s veteran presence and experience are something that the Astros desperately need behind the plate and among the catcher group in Houston. Diaz really benefitted from\u00a0Maldonado in 2023, and this signing could do the same in 2026.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Astros had both of the Puerto Rican catchers in 2022, and bringing back Christian V<span>\u00e1z<\/span>quez can honestly only do good for Houston.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s already past the middle of March, which means the Houston Astros are wrapping up spring training and getting ready for the season ahead in one week. The calendar rolling to March did not stop the Astros from making additional moves to further bolster their roster.\u00a0 While the Astros have certainly improved in a number [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5612,"featured_media":60059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14,1071,35],"tags":[526,29146,1170,2134,1479,28643,5945],"class_list":["post-116015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-astros","category-mlb","category-news","tag-carlos-perez","tag-cesar-salazar","tag-christian-vazquez","tag-martin-maldonado","tag-victor-caratini","tag-walker-janek","tag-yainer-diaz"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5612"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116015"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116028,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116015\/revisions\/116028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}