Boston Red Sox: Christian Vazquez waking up at the plate at right time
Production has been minimal for the bottom third of the order for the Boston Red Sox in 2018 but the recent play of Christian Vazquez is turning that around.
In the season’s first month and half, spots eight and nine in the batting order for the Boston Red Sox weren’t doing a whole lot.
Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Vazquez were the normal occupants of these spots and given a lot of heat regarding their lack of production.
Both have had their moments over the last month, with Vazquez currently the one giving Boston a boost from the bottom of the lineup.
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Vazquez was getting the majority of the starts early in the season. After a breakout year in 2017 and a strong spring training, he’d earned the right to start every day.
Still calling a strong game, Vazquez faltered in other parts. He wasn’t hitting and a strong suit of throwing out base runners had taken a hit.
The month of May progressed and Boston manager Alex Cora began sitting Vazquez more, giving extra time to Sandy Leon.
Vazquez responded by waking up his bat. In the 17 games he’s played since May 16, Vazquez is hitting .298 (17-57). He’s only struck out seven times in this span, while scoring seven runs.
June has been even better for the young catcher. He hit his first home run of the season in a win over the Houston Astros. On the month, Vazquez is hitting .357 (10-28) with 2 home runs and 4 RBI’s. He also has 4 multi-hit games in June.
Behind the plate, Vazquez has still only thrown out six runners in 23 attempts. If he continues to hit, though, there will be plenty of reasons to keep him in the starting lineup.
Sharing time with Leon and Swihart
Vazquez has seen more days off as of late. While it could be the reason his hitting has improved, there’s also plenty of positives to keep him behind the plate.
One reason is Boston’s 33-11 record in 2018 when he’s made a start. Included in that record is one start at designated hitter.
It helps to have a veteran staff — from the starters down on through the closer Craig Kimbrel — but Vazquez has shown he can handle the pitchers with aplomb.
Plus, Leon and Blake Swihart haven’t been exactly providing much offense themselves.
Leon looked like he might overtake Vazquez after a hot-hitting May in which he hit .350 with a couple of home runs and six RBI’s.
In June, though, Leon is only hitting .130 with nine strikeouts.
Swihart was on fire in spring training. Injuries had derailed his progress and it looked like 2018 was going to be a chance for redemption.
Not playing on a day-to-day basis can halter progress, but Swihart has failed to bring the spring training stick to the regular season. He got his first start behind the plate for the debut of Jalen Beeks, but that didn’t go exactly as planned.
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Swihart has only three hits in his last 21 at-bats. He is hitting .156 on the season with 20 strikeouts and 3 RBI’s.
The opportunities have been there for all three players. As of now, much as he did in 2017, the job is Vazquez’s to lose. If he keeps hitting, it will be his for a long-time to come.