Christian Vazquez doesn’t hit a lot of home runs, but when he goes deep, they matter.
The Boston Red Sox catcher has hit just six home runs in his Major League Baseball career, but five of them have given the Red Sox the lead, the latest of which came during Monday night’s 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Red Sox were trailing the Blue Jays by one in the seventh inning and were in danger of losing their fifth consecutive game. But Vazquez massacred a Danny Barnes fastball into the second deck to give the Sox a one-run lead.
The home run was just the latest in what is becoming an impressive collection of clutch home runs for the young catcher. Vazquez’s last clutch moment came Aug. 1 when he crushed a three-run walk off home run against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park to get closer Craig Kimbrel off the hook for a blown save.
And who could forget his massive home run off New York Yankees fireballer Dellin Betances during the 2016 campaign?
[mlbvideo id=”648955683″ width=”640″ height=”360″ /]
Of Vazquez’s six career bombs, five have come with men on base and all six have occurred with the Red Sox within two runs.
“He has come up big,” manager John Farrell said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “You look at the walk-off home run against Cody Allen, you know, 0-2 home run tonight, you’re never expecting that, you’re looking for just some square contact. Offensively, he’s swinging the bat really well, drives the ball into left-center field against another power right-hander, a big night offensively for Christian.”
While the clutch hits are a good tagline, Boston’s backstop has been having a solid offensive year all around. After going 4-for-4 against the Blue Jays on Monday, Vazquez now is hitting .294, the second best mark among qualified catchers trailing only San Francisco Giants star Buster Posey.
And Vazquez might be the hottest member of the Red Sox’s lineup in the second half, as he’s is hitting .439 with eight extra-base hits, nine RBI and 13 runs since July 29.
While Vazquez has been splitting time with Sandy Leon, his pension for timely hitting has been a major asset for the American League East-leading Red Sox.
Let’s take a look at more notes from Red Sox vs. Blue Jays.
— The Red Sox are expected to promote catcher Blake Swihart in the coming days which should give Leon and Vazquez a breather.
— Center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr.’s injured thumb is healing well and he should return Saturday against the New York Yankees, according to the Providence Journal’s Tim Britton.
— Dustin Pedroia will do more running Tuesday and Wednesday and then his timetable will be reevaluated, per Britton.
Thumbnail photo via Nick Turchiaro/USA TODAY Sports Images
