Quick f/x on Virgil Vazquez

Vazquez is back in the majors, making his second start since a couple brief stints in 2007 as a Tiger. We have some PITCHf/x data to compare Vazquez' one start as a Pirate to his partial PITCHf/x data as a Tiger (only one game of five is missing, actually).

Vazquez is a 6'3" righty, played NCAA for UCSB, and is the replacement for the supposedly self-demoted Ian Snell.

Comparing Vazquez' speed (mph) and movement (pfx, lateral in inches; pfz, vertical), it appears he may have lost a little bit of speed. The fastball (which includes a mix of two- and four-seamers) compared to the secondary pitches tells a better story.

2007 mph pfx pfz
Change 83.8 -8.1 5.6
Curve 74.4 4.8 -3.6
Fastball 92.0 -6.8 10.8
Cutter 87.2 0.3 6.3

2009 mph pfx pfz
Change 80.9 -4.1 4.2
Curve 75.1 7.7 -5.3
Fastball 90.9 -3.7 9.6
Cutter 86.6 3.7 4.9

2007 mph pfx pfz
FA-CU 18.6 12.9 14.4
FA-CH 8.2 1.3 5.2
FA-FC 4.8 7.1 4.5

2009 mph pfx pfz
FA-CU 15.8 11.8 14.9
FA-CH 10.0 0.4 5.4
FA-FC 4.3 7.4 4.7

The change is still a dropper more than a tailer (relatively speaking). His best pitch is the fastball (so far), but it's nothing special. The change, curve and cutter have had sub-par results in his limited work in the majors.