Astros might've promoted Christian Vazquez’s replacement for a big league audition

Christian Vazquez' return to the Houston Astros appears that it will be a one season cameo.

Vazquez, 36, rejoined the Astros this year late in spring training, returning to the team after originally being acquired at the deadline in 2022 for what would become a championship run. Vazquez represented himself well early on, and finished April hitting an incredible .327 with a .389 OBP and .920 OPS.

Clearly, no one expected him to maintain those numbers, but it did give hope that he could be more than the .189 hitter with the .545 OPS he was a year ago in Minnesota. Vazquez wasn't going to be expected to be a primary catcher, but wound up being pressed into that duty when Yainer Diaz suffered an oblique injury May 4 that kept him out until June 16.

Vazquez' offensive production took a nosedive. He hit .185 in May with a .520 OPS. When the team needed him to step up most in Diaz' absense, he floundered badly at the plate. June was even worse, as Vazquez hit .146 with a .196 OBP and a .384 OPS. Those numbers are so bad they are almost incomprehensible. They were masked somewhat by the fact that as the Astros started to get healthier, they also started winning more.

Vazquez rebounded somewhat in July, batting .219 with a .601 OPS, hitting better than he did in June but still with paltry offensive numbers. He fell back down to .194 in August, although a pair of solo HRs (which made up his only 2 RBI of the month) did improve his OPS to .652. So far he is 1x11 in September with a single.

Vazquez, who had been getting a good amount of the catching reps even after Diaz returned, has finally started ceding that playing time due to his woeful offense. Remarkably, Vazquez has not represented an upgrade over Diaz at stopping the running game of opponents either. In fact, Vazquez' 23.0% Caught Stealing rate is actually below Diaz' 23.3%. The league average is 23.1%.

Meanwhile, Astros prospect C Jason Schiavone has exploded up their prospect ranks with a massive season, and was promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land last week.

Schiavone wasn't even considered much of a prospect last season, as he was not even in the team's Top 30 prospects. For a system that had been considered as weak as the Astros, that is a far cry from prospect status.

However a huge season from Schiavone has shot him up the prospect ranks, currently landing him as the team's #6 overall prospect. The 23-year old Schiavone has been crushing home runs, leading all of MiLB with 31 bombs between High-A Asheville (17 HR in 128 AB) and Double-A Corpus Christi (14 HR in 283 AB). The promotion to Triple-A Sugar Land may have been a bit early, but the Astros want to see if Schiavone can be an option for them behind the plate next season.

He will need to show he can do more in the batting average dept. (.289 at Asheville, .233 at Corpus) but he has maintained a strong walk rate (.452 OBP at Asheville equating to a + .163 over AVG and .357 OBP at Corpus equating to a + .124 over AVG.) The jump to Double-A is often considered the hardest, as it is considered the biggest jump is opposition pitching.

If Schiavone can maintain the power and walk rates, he would be an above average hitting catcher. On top of his power and walk rate, he has stolen 29 bases in 38 attempts as well. A catcher with a power/speed combo at the plate is almost unheard of.

Whether Schiavone can continue his production at Triple-A in the very limited time left in the Space Cowboys season (the Triple-A regular season ends September 20). The Space Cowboys are 5 GB Oklahoma City in the 2nd half PCL standings, and are unlikley to make the postseason as a result. Therefore, his time will be short with Sugar Land this season.

However, Schiavone's performance will certainly get him an invite to Spring Training and a chance to win a job. Even if he doesn't win a job out of spring, it would be likely he would be a midseason call up and get a chance at that point.

One thing seems to be certain, Schiavone's rise will shove Vazquez out the door.

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Meanwhile, Astros prospect C Jason Schiavone has exploded up their prospect ranks with a massive season, and was promoted to Triple-A Sugar Land last week.

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