Red Sox Rankings: Top 10 catcher performances from this decade

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CINCINNATI, OH – SEPTEMBER 24: Christian Vazquez #7 of the Boston Red Sox is congratulated after being driven in by a three-run double hit by Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox in the eighth inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 24, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Boston defeated Cincinnati 5-4. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

Christian Vazquez missed all of 2015 after undergoing Tommy John surgery. After a successful rehab, he managed to come back and play 57 games for the 2016 Red Sox. He re-established himself as Boston’s main catcher in the 2017 season.

Vazquez wasn’t anything special in the 2017 season, posting a 92 OPS+. He had a .291 batting average and he is being ranked seventh on this list, which shows how the Red Sox have quietly been receiving solid production over this decade. Catchers posting an OPS+ between 90 and 100 will be a common trend for the middle part of these rankings.

He was fine behind the plate, producing 0 Defensive Runs Saved Above Average. He was slightly below average offensively and okay defensively. This lands Vazquez towards the bottom of the list, but there is a clear separation between the bottom three and the rest.

Vazquez’s 2017 season acts as the dividing line between atrocious seasons and average to above-average seasons. While his season won’t go down as something for the Red Sox to hope for from the young catcher, it does represent that even at his worst he isn’t that bad of a player.

Overall, Vazquez definitely has more to show than he displayed in 2017, which will be shown by some of his more recent seasons later on this list. But even at his worst, Christian won’t collapse to rock-bottom as Pierzynski or Swihart did in years prior.

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