Bernie: The Catching Search Continues: Today's Candidate, Christian Vazquez.
Bernie is looking for a free agent. Christian Vazquez is the current candidate.
Christian Vazquez is the latest candidate for the Cardinals' catching job. Vzquez played for Boston for 7 years and with Martin Maldonado for 2 years in Houston. He is a tough guy and respected for his defense and handling of pitchers. Yadier Molina will manage Team Puerto Rico in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.
A free-agent investment in Vazquez wouldn't be overly expensive. Vazaquez could be a stopgap until Ivan Herrera or another homegrown catcher is ready to take over.
Bernie is looking for a new catching candidate. Christian Vazquez is a good hitter and a solid defender. He is not a very good player on the field. He has been playing in hitter-friendly home parks. Vezquez has a .471 slugging percentage at Fenway Park and Minute Maid. His fielding runs saved were fourth best among MLB catchers. In the throwing category he ranked 6th overall. For the Statcast ratings in 2022, Vizquez was 23rd among the 60 catcher that had enough pitches-caught to qualify for the stat.
Christian Vazquez is the latest candidate for the Cardinals catching job. Vzquez has been a part of two World Series champions, catching in 12 postseason games for 2018 Red Sox and in six games in 2022 Astros. He caught the first combined no-hitter in World series history for Astros in Game 4 against the Phillies.
The Cardinals are looking for a new catcher. Bernie Miklasz is a sports-talk show host on 590-AM The Fan. He has been a columnist for the Post-Dispatch for 26 years and a journalist for The Athletic, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore News American. He and his wife live in the Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood of St. Louis. His weekly podcast on the Cardinals with Will Leitch is available on multiple platforms including Apple and Spotify.
