Houston Astros' Christian Vázquez defies the odds to catch 1,000 MLB games

PHILADELPHIA - Of the three active players who have appeared in at least 1,000 games at catcher in the majors, two were on the field Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies is well beyond that number, catching his 1,386th career game Tuesday, which ranks 47th all-time, per Baseball Reference. Christian Vázquez , the Houston Astros veteran, reached it on Saturday, becoming the 129th catcher to appear in 1,000 games behind the plate in MLB.

"I never thought I was going to catch 1,000 games in my career in the big leagues, so it's special," said Vázquez. "A lot of innings behind the plate. That's why I'm bald - thinking too much."

The subtle manner in which Vázquez reached 1,000 games caught, entering as a defensive replacement, befit his road there. Vázquez has played 100-plus games in only four of his 12 major-league seasons. He entered Tuesday with a career 78 OPS-plus; a 100 OPS-plus is league average.

Behind the plate, Vázquez has accrued positive defensive runs saved in all but one season, however, per Sports Info Solutions. The 36-year-old has played for two World Series champions, caught an additional 30 games in the postseason and accrued a dozen years of MLB service time.

"You have to be able to be really smart, putting the right fingers down, (and) health is huge for someone to be able to do that," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "He's done it on winning teams, too, he's won World Series, so that tells you how good he is and how valuable he is to winning teams."

The Astros signed Vázquez to a minor-league contract late this spring and carried him as their backup to Yainer Diaz . Due to Diaz's oblique strain in the first half, Vázquez leads the team in innings caught, albeit also with a notable record. The Astros entered Tuesday with a 43-28 record with Vázquez in the starting lineup this season and a 30-45 mark when he was not.

Vázquez's defensive metrics have remained positive this season. Sports Info Solutions assessed him five runs saved at catcher entering Tuesday. Statcast ranked Vázquez tied for fifth out of 59 qualified catchers with plus-six framing runs, albeit with below-average marks in blocking and throwing. Vázquez owned a 22.2% caught-stealing rate; league rate was 23%.

After Vázquez, the closest active catchers to 1,000 games caught entering Tuesday were James McCann (940), Travis d'Arnaud (879) and Austin Hedges (856).

"When I signed (with the Red Sox from Puerto Rico), I was like a fourth catcher in rookie ball," Vázquez said. "So now, seeing where I landed in my career is amazing. They gave me an opportunity and it was history after that."

Vázquez caught the second World Series no-hitter in MLB history in 2022 with the Astros, receiving their combined no-hitter in Game 4 against the Phillies. He also won a World Series title in 2018 with Boston . The Astros are attempting a return to this year's postseason, entering Tuesday with a two-game lead on the Rangers in the American League West and 18 games left on their regular-season schedule.

"I think when teams or people see that you care about your pitchers, your team, you love to win, I think they love that," Vázquez said. "I think nothing's better than in October having the trophy in my hands."