This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell’s Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SAN DIEGO -- On the surface, Randy Vásquez’s start last September against the Mets at Citi Field was entirely unremarkable.
Not to Vásquez. In the eyes of the Padres’ right-hander it was perhaps the most memorable start he’s ever made. Because it was the only start he’s ever made as a big leaguer in front of his mom, Maribel.
“Honestly,” Vásquez said, through interpreter Pedro Gutierrez, ahead of Mother’s Day weekend. “It was the best experience of my life. I got to pitch in a Major League ballpark, in front of my mom -- got to share that with her. That was a very special moment.”
Visa issues prevented Maribel from watching her son make his big league debut with the Yankees (coincidentally, against the Padres) on May 26, 2023. In fact, it would be more than two years before she got that chance.
Maribel has since become a U.S. resident in New York through her father. She’s planning a trip to San Diego at some point this summer to see her son pitch. And if Vásquez gets to start again at Citi Field in August, you can bet she’ll be there. But thus far, she’s only seen her son pitch once.
“That was the first and only time she's been able to see me live,” said Vásquez. “On TV, she watches all the time. But live in the big leagues, that was the only time. It was … a moment that I’ll always remember.”
In so many ways, that start was a culmination of Vásquez’s journey from his hometown of Navarrete in the Dominican Republic to the Major Leagues -- a journey he says would have been impossible without Maribel.
“If there was a day I wouldn't want to get out of bed -- she made me wake up early, take a shower, go train,” Randy said. “She's been the most important part of my journey in baseball. I'm just very grateful for her.”
As a kid, Randy loved two sports just about equally -- basketball and baseball. But he wasn’t under any illusions about his basketball skill set: “I wasn't very good at it.”
Nonetheless, Randy recalled being a 12-year-old and skipping baseball practice to shoot hoops. Maribel -- worried Randy might sustain an injury on the basketball court -- marched to the court and instructed him to leave, to get back to the baseball field where he was expected.
Randy laughs telling the story. (It sounds like it happened more than once.) And -- a decade and a half later -- Randy is clearly deeply appreciative that his mother kept him on a trajectory toward baseball.
Vásquez has become an established big leaguer and an integral part of the Padres’ rotation. During a season in which that rotation has been hit hard by injury, Vásquez has posted a 3.20 ERA across seven starts.
His journey wasn’t a straightforward one. Vásquez didn’t sign a professional deal until he was 19 years old, well older than most of his peers. He was never much of a highly touted prospect. In the Juan Soto trade, Vásquez was largely viewed as a throw-in.
Throughout that journey, even when they were thousands of miles apart, the two talked on the phone nearly every day.
“Whether I have a good day or a bad day, she's always on top of everything,” Vásquez said.
Now, Vásquez has blossomed into one of the most reliable starters on a Padres team with its eyes on contention. To date, Maribel has only seen her son make one big league start. But that number seems destined to increase. And when it does …
“It means a lot,” Vásquez said. “It's very special. I'll always have it in my mind and in my heart. This person who gave me life is able to accompany me on this journey.”