The Red Sox outfield has received plenty of deserved credit in the last few weeks for its collective ability to control the running game, but they can't do it alone.
The Sox added a pair of assists in a series-opening win in Anaheim on Monday night, pushing their league-leading total to 28 on the season. It has been a remarkable performance all season long, although it's one that's certainly helped by whoever is catching those throws and applying the tags.
More often than not, it's catcher Christian Vázquez, and manager Alex Cora believes it's time for the backstop to get some recognition.
"First things first, by the way: Christian Vázquez, what he's done the last -- what he did in Oakland, what he did (Monday), we haven't talked about him," Cora said in his postgame video conference with reporters. "Just to post in every game -- he'll have the day off (Tuesday) -- but that's something we don't talk about, what an amazing job. All games (have been) close games, getting people out at the plate, blocking balls and all that stuff, I mean, I haven't talked about him. I haven't talked to him in a while, so what a job he's done, too."
Monday night offered a perfect example of how much skill is required from Vázquez to ensure the great throw doesn't go wasted. Sox outfielder Danny Santana made a real nice play to gather a bloop single off the bat from Shohei Ohtani and almost seamlessly got into his throwing motion. Jose Lopez decided to test Santana's arm, and the Sox outfielder threw a one-hop bullet to the plate.
Vázquez, meanwhile, got in perfect position. There always has been an art to blocking the plate, and that has become even more subtle in recent seasons with MLB's new rules against fully blocking the dish. Vázquez was able to perfectly position himself in front of the plate and got into a receiving position while Santana came up throwing.
And while it's in the nature of Vázquez's job as, literally, a "catcher," to catch the ball, we probably don't pay enough attention to how difficult this play is. Vázquez needs to make sure he safely secures the ball and then slaps on the tag to a sliding Lopez all in one motion.
The whole thing really becomes a baseball work of art.
Vázquez's play Friday night in Oakland, however, might have been his best of the season. He was able to catch Kiké Hernández's throw in the back of the left-handed batter's box and bounce back to the plate in order to tag A's runner Seth Brown, helping to save the night for the Sox.
