'I built an engine': Vázquez shining after winter work

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- When Christian Vázquez arrived at Twins camp in February, he did so with a new piece of machinery.

Well, more like a tuned-up piece of machinery.

“I feel like I built an engine in the offseason,” Vázquez told MLB.com earlier this spring.

The engine was Vázquez’s body, specifically his core. With a goal of getting faster and in better shape, Vázquez immediately got to work with his long-time trainer this offseason. There were small tweaks to his swing, but the main focus of his training was speed.

In the second inning of Minnesota’s 8-5 loss to the Red Sox on Friday night at JetBlue Park, Vázquez provided the latest proof that the work he put in this offseason is paying off.

With two on and one out and Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers at the plate, Vázquez popped up and picked off a wandering Nick Yorke on a throw to third baseman Kyle Farmer. Devers drove in the runner on second two pitches later.

On the other side of the ball, Vázquez tacked on a long homer to center in the sixth inning, his first of the spring.

Through nine games catching this spring, Vázquez has thrown out five runners. For comparison, he caught two runners total last spring (eight games). He’s hitting .280 with a .721 OPS.

Sure, it’s March 15. The results of the game carry no weight and the stats reset come March 28. But the success both at and behind the plate are an indication that Vázquez took his offseason preparation seriously.

“He’s had a phenomenal spring,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He came in as a guy that we identified early in camp that looked especially good coming in, the way his body was moving, the way he visually looked, the way he was swinging the bat. And he’s actually come out behind the plate, he’s looked really good in really all facets.”

After signing a three-year, $30 million deal with the Twins in December 2022, Vázquez posted the second-lowest average (.223) and third-lowest OPS (.598) of his career. Vázquez’s down year at the plate prompted Baldelli to start 26-year-old Ryan Jeffers over the veteran catcher through the Twins’ 2023 postseason run.

“It was hard to not be in the lineup at all,” Vázquez said. “I feel like it made me stronger, [motivated me] to be better, and that’s why I did this.”

No stranger to the postseason, with 31 games of playoff experience and two World Series rings, the snub effectively changed Vázquez’s mindset. The work he’s put in over the past few months didn’t stem solely from a place of wanting to improve on an individual level, but also from the fact that he believes that the Twins have something special going into the 2024 season and feels he can contribute to their success.

“There’s nothing better than to hold that trophy, and I feel like this team can do it,” Vázquez said.

“We’re really pleased with the way his offseason went, and he’s hungry,” Baldelli said. “He’s a veteran player who’s been around a long time, he’s had a lot of success in this league and he’s still very hungry to do even more.”