Twins position breakdown: Catchers

How’s this for a fun fact? For the second straight season, the Twins used only two catchers to start a game.

In 2023, Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez were the only two players to see even an inning behind the plate. In 2024, those two started every game and nearly accomplished that feat again. This time, though, rookie Jair Camargo got some playing time — a total of one inning behind the plate across two games.

It’s a remarkable run of health for two guys playing the sport’s most physically demanding position.

2024 RECAP

A big part of the reason the Twins have been able to keep both of their catchers fresh is that they are committed to them splitting time behind the plate.

Exhibit A: Jeffers caught 720⅓ innings last year. Vázquez caught 719. They each started 81 games behind the plate, although Jeffers appeared in quite a few more games than Vázquez (122 to 93) as the team often opted to use him as the designated hitter.

Jeffers began the season as one of the hottest hitters on the planet (.947 OPS in March and April) in what would be an inconsistent year at the plate. June marked a low point, when he hit .161 with a .470 OPS. He rebounded later in the summer before a tough September.

He finished the season with a career-high 21 home runs and 64 runs batted in, though his numbers (he hit .226 with a .732 OPS and 103 OPS+) weren’t quite as good as a season before, when he hit .276 with an .858 OPS and 133 OPS+ (100 is league average).

Vázquez, by contrast, had a particularly difficult early go of it — in May, he hit .094 with just five hits and a .222 OPS — before picking it up during the middle of the season. July and August were his two best months before the veteran tailed off offensively in the final month.

2025 OUTLOOK

The easy answer here would be to run it back with the same duo and Camargo waiting in Triple-A in case of injury. Jeffers is arbitration-eligible, and Vázquez is in the final year of the three-year deal he signed with the Twins as a free agent, due $10 million in 2025.

At that salary, it’s safe to wonder if the Twins will try to move Vázquez considering they have limited payroll flexibility. It’s unclear whether they’d be able to get another team to cover the full amount of his salary or only part of it, but moving Vázquez could provide the financial relief to allow the Twins to address other needs.

If they did that, Camargo could step into Vázquez’s role and handle catching duties alongside Jeffers. Jeffers would seem to be less likely to be moved as the younger, less expensive of the duo with more team control.

If they decide to hang onto both of them, the duo would be in line to split playing time for the third straight season.