Osvaldo Vázquez

Osvaldo Vázquez Torres

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 216 lb.

• Born May 20, 1990 in Ciego de Ávila, Ciego de Ávila Cuba

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Biographical Information

Osvaldo Vázquez has won a home run title in Cuba and played for the Cuban national team.

He debuted for the Tigres de Ciego de Ávila in the 2008-2009 Serie Nacional, hitting .246/.350/.464 with four homers in 69 AB as the backup catcher to Lisdey Díaz. In 2009-2010, the teenager slumped on offense (.231/.279/.388) but threw out half of those who tried to steal. He batted .298/.353/.532 and threw out 47% in 2010-2011, when the Tigres won their first title. He remained a bench player in 2011-2012 (.193/.307/.349 in 129 PA), 2012-2013 (.304/.373/.457 in 52 PA) and 2013-2014 (.270/.370/.429 in 73 PA).

Vázquez won the starting job in 2014-2015, hitting .312/.402/.471 as Ciego de Ávila won its second championship. He threw out 49% of would-be base-stealers. He batted .433/.514/.800 with 7 runs, 3 homers and 12 RBI in 8 games in the 2015 World Port Tournament, which Cuba won. He was named World Port Tournament Home Run King as he led in dingers and he also led in RBI (3 ahead of Yurisbel Gracial) and total bases (24, one ahead of Gracial and Yasiel Santoya) and was 5th in average, 2nd in slugging (.033 behind Teppei Ueda), 5th in OBP, tied for 2nd in runs (3 behind Lourdes Gurriel Jr.), tied for 4th with 13 hits and tied Kevin Moesquit for 2nd with 6 walks.

He also played for Cuba in the 2015 Premier 12. He backed up Yosvani Alarcón at catcher and Alfredo Despaigne at DH, going 1 for 8 with a walk and a RBI. His lone hit was off Alessandro Maestri. He played a big part in the Tigres' successful title defense in 2015-2016, with a .294/.450/.539 batting line, 16 homers, 57 walks, 51 runs and 52 RBI in 79 games while catching 49% stealing. He was on the Serie Nacional leaderboards in homers (2nd, one behind Alarcón), hit by pitch (15, tied Geidis Soler for 1st), walks (8th), strikeouts (51, 6th), slugging (6th, between William Saavedra and Adolis García), OBP (7th, between Yunior Paumier and Stayler Hernández) and OPS (5th, between Yordanis Samón and Gurriel). Alarcón beat him out for All-Star catcher but he did win the Gold Glove. He saw little action in the 2016 Caribbean Series, though, going 0 for 3 and relegated to the bench when the team added Frank Camilo for the Series. He was 4 for 19 with a double and two walks for Cuba in the Canadian-American Association, backing up Alarcón.

Vázquez hit even better in 2016-2017 (.330/.432/.596, 21 2B, 17 HR, 72 RBI in 75 G) while catching 47% stealing. He was 3rd in doubles (trailing Samón and Edilse Silva), won the home run title (3 ahead of Yeniet Pérez) to become the second straight backstop to win, was 3rd with 161 total bases (after Samón and Alexander Ayala), was second in RBI (4 behind Samón), led in slugging (.029 ahead of Samón), was 3rd in OPS (after Samón and Ayala) and led in both steals allowed (29) and caught stealing (26). He homered off Yoalkis Cruz for the first run of the finals but the Tigres failed to claim a three-peat. He was a solid MVP candidate but the award went to pitching ace Lázaro Blanco; Osvaldo was named the Offensive All-Star at catcher.

He was with Cuba for the 2017 World Baseball Classic but saw almost no action as Alarcón and Camilo did the catching. He replaced Camilo in the 8th inning of a 6-0 win over China and did not get to bat. In the 2017 World Port Tournament, he hit .259/.323/.296. In the 2017-2018 Serie Nacional, he hit .241/.385/.483 in the first half for Ciego de Ávila. When they didn't make the second half, he was picked up by Matanzas and batted .275/.446/.514 the rest of the way. He tied Guillermo Avilés for 2nd in home runs (16, four behind Lázaro Cedeño), tied Carlos Benítez and Cedeño for 2nd with 71 RBI (9 behind Rafael Viñales), tied for 6th with 9 times hit by pitch, was 4th with 67 walks (between Avilés and Benítez), was 3rd with 52 K and tied Avilés and Saavedra for 4th with 20 intentional walks. Alarcón was named the All-Star catcher.

Vázquez hit .260/.358/.464 in 2018-2019; he tied Paumier and Raúl González for 8th with 13 home runs, tied Benítez for 9th with 61 RBI and was 6th with 45 strikeouts.