Thomas Nestico of TJStats broke down the top WAR player currently on each team by position and by division.
Today, we are going to look at the catcher position:
Yainer Diaz hasn’t just been the worst catcher on his team. He isn’t just the worst catcher in the AL West. He’s tied as the worst catcher in MLB. That’s a statement.
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When Yainer first came up to Houston, his defense would be a work in progress but he showed strong pop times and a powerful arm. At the plate, he had power, hit for a high average, and made strong contact despite a tendency to be a free swinger.
It was expected that as he got older, he would learn better plate discipline and get himself better pitches to hit as a result. Instead, the opposite has happened and Yainer has regressed at the plate badly as a result.
Yainer still swings at nearly everything, often leading to ground ball outs when reaching for pitches he should be taking. He sees less good pitches to hit because the league knows he will swing at anything.
The differences between Yainer’s rookie season of 2023 when he burst on the scene looking like a real catcher of the future to today are startling:
That is an awful lot of red that has turned to blue. The top 7 categories have gone from red to blue.
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He still chases at near the same rate, and while his walk rate has improved ever so slightly, it’s still way down the bottom of the league.
It may be something that would be perhaps more tolerable if his defense had continued to improve. Alas, that has regressed also:
These stats are confounding because Diaz is not old enough to have age-related regression in physical ability, and we are not aware publicly of any kind of injury that is causing Diaz to regress. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for interpretation, and the room it does leave isn’t positive.
Meanwhile, Christian Vazquez is hitting .375 (12×32) with a .444 OBP and a 1.132 OPS, with 10 RBI in just 10 games (8 starts) and has four catcher caught stealings on the season.
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While it’s unlikely Vazquez continues at this torrid a pace, he should be getting more playing time while he is hot, especially since his defense is such a vast improvement from Diaz’.
To be clear, we are not seeing some dip into the fountain of youth on Vazquez, this is a hot streak.
If we compare Vazquez’ 2025 (.189/.271/.274) to his current 2026 (.375/.444/.688) via the metrics, here is what we get:
As you can see, Vazquez’ offensive metrics really aren’t much different from last year.
His x SLG is nearly identical, as are his exit velocities and barrel rate.
Vazquez’ Hard Hit % is actually lower, as his is Square Up % and his overall bat speed.
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His Chase Rate, Whiff Rate and K rate are all up, though his BB Rate is also up.
These numbers tell us that there has been some luck involved in his performance, but also that his willingness to draw walks (8.4% to 10.8%) has helped him get better pitches to hit, and he’s hit them in places that have resulted in base hits (xBA improvement from .210 to .251)
Now for the defense:
While it is likely the Blocks number for 2026 is negatively impacted by limited playing time, the Caught Stealing is something that Vazquez continues to do well in.
Framing could also be a factor of limited opportunity. Sprint speed is down, and that is to be expected in an aging catcher.
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Overall, Vazquez doesn’t project as a starting-caliber catcher, but Diaz has been so bad this season, that the Astros really have no choice but to play Vazquez more (especially while he’s hot) if they intend on winning baseball games.
Maybe a short term hit to playing time lights a fire under Diaz, but we will learn a little something about his makeup if it does or it doesn’t.
The numbers match the eye test right now, and neither one lies. It has been a brutal start to the season for Yainer Diaz.
The question is at what point is there accountability.
