Twins' Christian Vazquez: Back from paternity leave
Rotowire
The Twins activated Vazquez (personal) from the paternity list Wednesday, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.
Vazquez was away for two games while welcoming a new addition to the family. Fellow catcher Jair Camargo was sent down to Triple-A St. Paul in a corresponding move.
The Twins placed Vazquez on the paternity list Monday.
Vazquez will likely be away for the entirety of the three-game series against the Angels before rejoining the active roster for the weekend series versus the Reds. Jair Camargo has been added to the roster and will back up Ryan Jeffers at catcher while Vazquez is away.
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Twins' Christian Vazquez: Three hits in Sunday's loss
Rotowire
Vazquez went 3-for-4 with two doubles in Sunday's 5-3 loss to the Guardians.
Despite twice putting himself in scoring position, the Twins couldn't bring Vazquez home in any of his three trips on base. The catcher continues to swing a hot bat, going 13-for-31 (.419) over his last 10 contests. Vazquez is slashing .225/.257/.352 with six home runs, 22 RBI, 21 runs scored and three stolen bases over 67 games this year, but he's been much more productive at the plate than fellow backstop Ryan Jeffers in recent weeks, though the two catchers remain in an even timeshare.
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Twins' Christian Vazquez: Homers in Tuesday's loss
Rotowire
Vazquez went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-3 loss to the Cubs.
Vazquez's homer was the third and final hit of the game for the Twins. The catcher has been reliable since the All-Star break, going 9-for-28 (.321) with two homers and six RBI over nine contests in that span. He's up to a .213/.242/.333 slash line with six homers, 22 RBI, 19 runs scored and three stolen bases over 223 plate appearances. Regardless of how well he hits, Vazquez appears likely to remain in a 50-50 timeshare with Ryan Jeffers.
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Twins' Christian Vazquez: Three hits vs. Tigers
Rotowire
Vazquez went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, two runs, a walk and a stolen base in Friday's 9-3 win over Detroit.
Vazquez produced his first three-hit game since April, and three of the veteran catcher's five home runs this season have come in the month of July. He is still splitting work with Ryan Jeffers behind the plate, but with Jeffers seeing work as the DH as well, Vazquez has started 10 of the last 18 games. The 33-year-old is slashing .280/.321/.507 with four homers over his last 75 at-bats.
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Twins' Christian Vazquez: Leads club to comeback win
Rotowire
Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and two additional RBI in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Astros.
The Astros established a 2-0 lead in the second inning, but Vazquez got one of those runs back with an RBI single. He added another RBI on a fielder's choice in the fourth before providing a walkoff homer in the ninth to complete the comeback. The catcher has multiple hits in each of his last three games, including two homers in that span. He's slashing .204/.227/.311 with four homers, 16 RBI, 13 runs scored and two stolen bases over 180 plate appearances this season. Vazquez continues to alternate starts at catcher with Ryan Jeffers, who has offered moderately more offense and power this season.
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Twins' Christian Vazquez: Homers Wednesday
Rotowire
Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 9-2 loss to the Tigers.
The veteran catcher got the Twins on the board in the third with a long blast to left-center field off Keider Montero for this third home run of the season. Wednesday was Vazquez's first game with an RBI since June 12 and his third game with multiple hits since that date. He's struggled mightily as a whole on the year, slashing .189/.214/.277 with 12 RBI, 11 runs and a 5:37 BB:K in 171 plate appearances.
Vazquez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.
Vazquez remains the Twins' No. 2 catcher, but he picked up starts in three of the previous five games while Minnesota deployed top backstop Ryan Jeffers at designated hitter on three days he didn't start behind the plate. Jeffers will serve as the Twins' catcher for the series finale in Houston while Alex Kirilloff slots in as the DH, leaving no room in the lineup for Vazquez. The 33-year-old has struggled mightily at the dish in his second season in Minnesota, slashing .161/.179/.196 over 119 plate appearances while striking out at a career-worst 25.2 percent rate.
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Twins' Christian Vazquez: Three hits in win
Rotowire
Vazquez went 3-for-4 with one run scored and one steal in Sunday's win over the Angels.
After hitting just .121 (4-for-33) with a home run through his first 11 games, he's hitting .474 (9-for-19) over his last five games. He continues to split playing time behind the plate with Ryan Jeffers, with Jeffers frequently getting starts at DH when Vazquez is behind the dish.
Vazquez is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Guardians.
Vazquez and Ryan Jeffers have alternated starts at catcher over the first eight games of the season, and the latter will start Saturday. Vazquez has started the season going 2-for-10 with two RBI.
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Twins' Christian Vazquez: Starting at catcher Tuesday
Rotowire
Vazquez is starting at catcher and batting ninth Tuesday in Milwaukee.
He and Ryan Jeffers have split the catching duties in the first four games of the season, with Jeffers drawing an additional start at designated hitter. Vazquez is the far less desirable fantasy option of the two, but the 33-year-old should have a much better season in 2024 than during a 2023 campaign in which he produced a .598 OPS.
Twins' Christian Vazquez: Key RBI in first start of season
Rotowire
Vazquez started at catcher and went 1-for-4 with an RBI in Saturday's win at Kansas City.
Vazquez struggled at the plate last season by hitting just .223 with little power (.095 ISO) and a paltry .280 OBA, so it was good to see him have a good first game of the season with a key RBI late in the game. He also threw out Bobby Witt on a steal attempt late in the game. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said the plan is to roughly split playing time at catcher with Ryan Jeffers as the Twins aim to keep both players fresh.
