CHICAGO — Outside, Christian Vázquez joyously yelled “Minnesota” to the Target Field faithful on hand for his walk-off home run Sunday afternoon. Inside near the clubhouse door, the veteran catcher’s pregnant wife high-fived anyone within reach.
Stuck in a slump for the better part of 1 1/2 seasons, Vázquez appropriately celebrated what is arguably his best day in a Minnesota Twins uniform. The three-RBI showing was easily Vázquez’s best offensive day of the 2024 season and it’s an effort he hopes to replicate more frequently in the second half after making several recent mechanical changes.
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Reflecting on the moment on Monday, Vázquez, who’s shown marked offensive improvement since the start of June, said he was encouraged by a Sunday showing in which he accounted for all three of his team’s runs, including hitting a game-winning homer off Houston Astros closer Josh Hader.
“It was very good,” Vázquez said. “It’s a lot of work to feel this (way) and it’s fun when you can help the team win. Any chance, any opportunity at the plate, it feels good.”
Ask anyone in the Twins’ clubhouse and they won’t hesitate to tell you how great of a teammate Vázquez is.
Pitchers love throwing to him, valuing his knowledge of opposing hitters, the good target he provides and the arm that has bailed out plenty in the running game. Position players describe an upbeat veteran who loves to pump up teammates with encouragement even on days in which he’s discouraged with his own performance. And his coaches love the 10-year veteran who works tirelessly to rediscover his stroke despite all of the frustration he’s experienced.
When Vázquez connected on a 3-2 fastball from Hader to lift the Twins to the win, everyone knew the magnitude of the moment.
“He gives a lot to this team,” manager Rocco Baldelli said after Sunday’s game. “He’s a very dedicated baseball player. … He’s not a guy who just plays baseball, he’s a baseball player. He loves this stuff and he’s never going to stop working and trying to improve himself. He gives his entire life to this. It’s this and his family, and I don’t know what else he’s into because he loves this so much. He put himself in a great spot (Sunday) against an excellent pitcher and a guy that, he used that whole at-bat to kind of figure out how to get the barrel to the ball. And he figured it out.”
Apparently, Vázquez has figured out quite a bit lately.
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He clearly feels better at the plate following a difficult start to the season. Signed to a three-year, $30 million deal before the 2023 season, Vázquez entered Monday with a .578 OPS in 535 plate appearances as a member of the Twins.
But dating to June 4, Vázquez is hitting .291/.322/.546 with five doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs in 61 plate appearances.
“My swing feels very good,” Vázquez said. “I can drive the ball to left-center with damage. I had a couple months of struggling, the first two, and I feel like right now is the old Vázquez everybody knows.”
Went out with a bang 💥 pic.twitter.com/s3oHSHK8wn
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 8, 2024
Vázquez and assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon have put in a lot of work to reach this point. Early in the season, Vázquez worked to improve his pitch selection — he’s never swung at a higher percentage of pitches outside the strike zone (36.2 percent) than in 2024.
But approach alone wouldn’t do the trick.
There’s been a change to his batting stance, particularly in his lower half that allows Vázquez to pull the ball more easily. Second, a trip to Driveline when the Twins were in Phoenix last month identified Vázquez was “too handsy” and not using his body enough to generate power. Shomon and Vázquez’s trip to Driveline resulted in the catcher holding his hands higher in his setup.
Now that they’ve figured out what can lead to success, Shomon and Vázquez are working on a routine that gets him into the correct position more easily. The hope is he rediscovers the form that allowed him to be a solid contributor during his Boston Red Sox days.
“It beats the hell out of you,” Shomon said. “A large part of it is making sure he’s feeling confident and sexy going into the game. There’s a good little hitter there and he knows it. When he feels like he’s not that guy and not set up to be that guy and you can’t feel that guy, it’s tough. It feels like success is far away. … Hopefully he’s in a position where he can be about the approach and see ball, hit ball.”
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Vázquez admits this hasn’t been easy. The two-time World Series champion is still trying to get comfortable maintaining a good feel at the plate while sharing playing time with Ryan Jeffers, something he knew would be the case upon joining the Twins. He understands the organizational philosophy of keeping catchers fresh and is trying to adjust rather than fight a system he respects.
All of his experiences mean that moments like Sunday’s aren’t taken for granted.
Knowing Hader didn’t want to walk the No. 9 hitter, Vázquez looked for a 3-2 fastball and deposited it in the bleachers. He enjoyed the moment, watching the ball most of the way down the line before starting his home-run trot. His wife, Gabriela, who is due in mid-September with their third child, celebrated outside the clubhouse too.
“We need to find a way,” Vázquez said. “You need to find a way to do it. … This is the way we’re going to do it. Every other day, you need to find a way and stick with it. Stick with the feel I have right now. It’s very good and continue to do the same thing to the end of October.”
GO DEEPER
Lee, Wallner key another Twins' comeback win as they chip away in AL Central race
(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)
