ANDY VASQUEZ | THIRD BASEMAN |
 | Born: October 8, 1987 Height: 6′ 1″ Weight: 168 Bats: Right Throws: Right Signed: Int. FA, Pittsburgh Pirates, 2006 How Acquired: Int. FA Country: Dominican Republic Agent: N/A |
WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES |
| Vasquez signed at nearly age 20 in the Dominican, which is unusually late. He’s impressive-looking physically, but hasn’t gotten it together as a player. He has the ability to be a good defensive player, with good range and a strong arm, but he’s error-prone and at times seems rather disinterested. The Pirates have used him at second, third and short, and in the outfield, depending on need. He’s also played a few games at first. He has fairly good power for an infielder but poor strike zone judgment. At different times, he’s been a right-handed hitter and a left-handed hitter. Not a switch-hitter, just one or the other. I don’t mean just “listed as,” either, as I’ve seen him. I have no idea what the explanation is for that. 2007 Vasquez got 57 ABs in his DSL debut, drawing a lot of walks and striking out nearly a third of the time. 2008 As is generally the case with Latin players who are older than the norm for the GCL, the Pirates sent Vasquez straight to the New York-Penn League. He first appeared with State College in July. Considering his very limited experience, Vasquez held his own, with fairly good power but not good strike zone judgment. He split time between second and short, committing one error in 18 games at second and five in 28 games at short. With the error-prone Spikes that year, those totals were miniscule. 2009 Returned to State College and struggled badly at bat. He played mainly short, with some games at third and a few at second. 2010 Played in only 29 games all year. He opened the season back at State College and saw action only sparingly as a backup at second and third. Vasquez moved up to West Virginia at the end of the season to fill in due to injuries. He hit much better at the higher level. Between the two levels he had two walks and 31 Ks. 2011 Vasquez opened the year as a utility player at West Virginia. There were stretches early in the season, though, when Vasquez was about the team’s best hitter apart from Matt Curry, especially when Gift Ngoepe went out for the year in late April. Probably as a result, Vasquez ended up as an everyday player. He mainly split his time between second and left, but also played short, third, right and center. He hit fairly well and led the SAL in triples, but still showed very poor plate discipline. He stole a lot for the first time, although his success rate was mediocre. After seemingly being on his way out in 2010, Vasquez has rebounded to become a good organizational player. He’ll be a utility guy at Bradenton in 2012. |
STATS |
| Baseball Reference–Minors Fangraphs MiLB.com |
CONTRACT INFORMATION |
| 2011: Minor League Contract |
PLAYER INFORMATION |
| Signing Bonus: N/A MiLB Debut: 2007 MLB Debut: N/A MiLB FA Eligible: 2013 MLB FA Eligible: N/A Rule 5 Eligible: Eligible Added to 40-Man: N/A Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
TRANSACTIONS |
| 2006: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent. |
