BOSTON -- The Red Sox have signed catcher Christian Vázquez to a three-year contract extension through the 2021 season, with a club option for the 2022 season.Vázquez, 27, is in his 11th professional season, all with the Red Sox since being selected by the club in the ninth round of the 2008 MLB Draft. In 211 major league games, he has thrown out 42 percent of attempted base stealers (42 of 100), the highest rate for any catcher since at least 1987 (min. 200 games caught), ahead of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez (41.7 percent). 
After missing the entire 2015 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Vázquez began the 2016 campaign on the disabled list but worked his way back to the big-league club, appearing in 57 Red Sox games that year. In 2017, he led Boston with 85 starts behind the plate and appeared in a career-best 99 games, pacing American League catchers with a .290 batting average (min. 250 AB). For his efforts, he earned the Unsung Hero Award from the Boston Baseball Writers.From July 29 through the end of the 2017 season, Vázquez ranked fourth in the majors with a .346 batting average (min. 50 AB). On August 1 against the Cleveland Indians, he turned a 10-9 deficit into a 12-10 victory with a three-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning, his first career game-ending RBI.MLB.com
After missing the entire 2015 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Vázquez began the 2016 campaign on the disabled list but worked his way back to the big-league club, appearing in 57 Red Sox games that year. In 2017, he led Boston with 85 starts behind the plate and appeared in a career-best 99 games, pacing American League catchers with a .290 batting average (min. 250 AB). For his efforts, he earned the Unsung Hero Award from the Boston Baseball Writers.From July 29 through the end of the 2017 season, Vázquez ranked fourth in the majors with a .346 batting average (min. 50 AB). On August 1 against the Cleveland Indians, he turned a 10-9 deficit into a 12-10 victory with a three-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning, his first career game-ending RBI.MLB.com
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