Ramón Vázquez
Puerto Rican infielder turned MLB coach.
Ramón Luis Vázquez is a Puerto Rican professional baseball coach and former infielder. He played in Major League Baseball for six teams over a decade-long career. He most recently served as bench coach for the Boston Red Sox.
Quick Facts
- Position
- Infielder; Coach
- Bats
- Left
- Throws
- Right
- Born
- 21 August 1976
- Birthplace
- Aibonito, Puerto Rico
- Debut league
- MLB
- Debut date
- September 7
- Debut year
- 2001
Facts from the source article.
Playing career
Vázquez attended Barrio Valle Real High School in Cidra, Puerto Rico and Indian Hills Community College in Centerville, Iowa. He was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 27th round of the 1995 draft. He made his MLB debut with the Mariners in 2001. After that season, he was traded to the San Diego Padres in a multi-player deal.
Following the 2004 season, he was sent to the Boston Red Sox in another trade. In July 2005, the Red Sox traded him to the Cleveland Indians for Alex Cora. He became a minor league free agent after 2006 and signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers. Injuries to Rangers infielders gave him an everyday role for the first time since 2003.
On August 22, 2007, he drove in seven runs with two home runs in a 30–3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. In May 2008, he hit a walk-off home run against the Mariners. Later that July, after committing three errors, he doubled in two runs to win another game against Seattle. He signed a two-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates in December 2008.
He played third base for Puerto Rico in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. In April 2010, the Pirates designated him for assignment and released him. He then signed minor league contracts with the Mariners, the Houston Astros' Triple-A affiliate, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Toronto Blue Jays, and the Florida Marlins over the next two seasons.
Managing and coaching career
After retiring as a player, Vázquez became a minor league instructor for the Houston Astros. In 2014, he was the hitting coach for the Rookie-class Gulf Coast League Astros. The next year, he served as an infield development specialist for the Lancaster JetHawks. In November 2015, he was named interim manager of the Cangrejeros de Santurce in the Puerto Rican Winter League, taking over a team with a 4–10 record.
He led them to a second-place finish and a postseason berth, then to a championship victory over the Indios de Mayagüez. In 2016, he returned to manage the Lancaster JetHawks. In 2017, he joined the San Diego Padres as a coach working with infielders. In 2018, he became a uniformed member of the Boston Red Sox coaching staff under Alex Cora, the same player for whom he had been traded in 2005.
Through 2020, he coordinated statistical analysis and advanced scouting data. In November 2020, his role was updated to quality control coach and interpreter. In August 2021, he filled in as first base coach when the regular coach was quarantined. Later that month, Vázquez tested positive for COVID-19.
Near the end of September, he took over as first base coach for the postseason because the regular coach was not vaccinated.
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