7 innings, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K’s
That was Joel Pineiro’s line yesterday for Los Angeles against the Yankees at the Stadium. This certainly made Mets fans sick just a night after John Maine threw more 88 mph mediocre fastballs, but the Yanks might wind up regretting passing on Pineiro as well if Javier Vazquez is the version who pitched yesterday.
Joel Sherman outlines the Yanks interest in Pineiro this offseason as they had some of the same concerns as everyone else. The question is will those pale in comparison to Javier Vazquez who doesn’t seem to have the same life on his fastball as just a year ago.
If you look at various data from Brooks Baseball and F/X by Texas Leaguer Vazquez average about 91 mph on his fastball last season in the National League. Yesterday, it was the second start where the average was around 88-89 mph. It’s way too early to make assumptions about health, but historically 2009 was an outlier in the career of Vazquez. During his AL career Vazquez has pretty much been a league average pitcher, slightly better, if you just take his Chicago numbers. Even his 2005-2006 seasons in Arizona, in the inferior NL, weren’t anything special.
Pineiro, when his sinker is on, is a right handed version of Andy Pettitte giving you innings and quality starts. Sure, it’s one start but something to think about. We all love strikeouts, but give me someone who can pitch and wants the ball in New York and you have yourself a winner. In the case of Pineiro it would just cost them an extra year on the contract not Michael Dunn, Arodys Vizcaino, and Melky Cabrera.
It’s too early to count out Javier Vazquez, but I believe many optimists had him penciled behind CC Sabathia as the durable #2 starter in a rotation with inconsistent A.J. Burnett, aging Pettitte, and developing Phil Hughes. Even the “bad version” of Vazquez is good enough to win 13 to 15 games with this Yankees lineup so this isn’t the biggest deal. Will the fans tolerate that version? What about during the postseason when the stakes are raised? Even in Chicago Vazquez wasn’t up for the bright lights of October.
Joel Pineiro was on full display yesterday and threw a dagger to a team out west in Colorado. Very soon you might be including the team in the Bronx to that equation if yesterday is a preview to what 2010 looks like for Javier Vazquez.
Original Story:
http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=23691
