River Avenue Blues

  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • Features
    • Yankees Top 30 Prospects
    • Prospect Profiles
    • Fan Confidence
  • Resources
    • 2019 Draft Order
    • Depth Chart
    • Bullpen Workload
    • Guide to Stats
  • Shop and Tickets
    • RAB Tickets
    • MLB Shop
    • Fanatics
    • Amazon
    • Steiner Sports Memorabilia
River Ave. Blues » Javy Vazquez » Page 3

All it takes is one inning for Yanks to top Jays

June 7, 2010 by Joe Pawlikowski 42 Comments

For a little more than a full inning, it felt like the Yankees were going to drop yet another game in which their offense did nothing. As John Sterling mentioned, that’s unfair to the Blue Jays pitchers. He also said that intentionally walking the bases loaded was a “sound strategy,” so I’m not sure I should use him as a reference point here. But he does have a point. Cecil, Romero, and Morrow are three talented pitchers who, if they continue developing, could anchor the Jays’ rotation for years to come.

Thankfully they did put together that odd rally in the eighth. Vazquez got the win, the Yanks avoided the sweep, and now they get to chill, perhaps at home, on an off-day before making the short trip to Baltimore.

Biggest Hit: Cano caps the rally

Jason Frasor threw Robinson Cano a hittable fastball. You can complete the story from there. But plenty led up to the moment.

The story of the eighth is actually one long, bizarre tale that you probably wouldn’t believe if there weren’t video evidence. Somehow the Yankees scored four runs while tallying just two hits. Both hits, as you can imagine, resulted in big RBI. That means every other runner reached base in an alternative manner. And it all started with a HBP.

AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Nathan Denette

Brandon Morrow’s ceiling is no lower now than when the Mariners drafted him in 2006. Maybe the chances that he reaches that ceiling are lower, but the same ceiling still exists. Today we got a preview of what that ceiling could look like, and for the top dogs in the AL East, it was not good news. Through seven innings Morrow had allowed just five baserunners, four hits and, more importantly, just one walk. He had used 99 pitches, so odds were he’d be done soon after he started the eighth. After getting ahead of Francisco Cervelli, Morrow let a fastball get away from him, and it nearly hit Cervelli in the helmet. It just missed, nicking off his shoulder, which meant he got to take first base without major incident.

That was it for Morrow, who handed the ball to Cito Gaston, who handed it in turn to the lefty Scott Downs. Brett Gardner stepped in and took a slider well outside for ball one. Downs then came back with a fastball up and in, but it hit Gardner, giving the Yankees the opportunity they needed. The top of the order was due up with the tying run, who potentially could score on a double, standing on first base. Downs set up Jeter with fastballs. Jeter swung at none of the first three, and two crossed inside the zone.

With the count 1-2 Downs threw a slider low and away. It might not have been a terrible pitch to another hitter, for two reasons. First, Derek Jeter does not like to lose baseball games, and he really doesn’t like losing a few in a row. Second, it was in the perfect spot for Jeter to hit it the other way. He did just that, bringing home the Yanks’ first run of the game and putting the tying run on third with none out. Nick Swisher came up and, like Jeter, took the first three pitches, two of which were strikes. On the 1-2 the new pitcher, Jason Frasor, threw a changeup in the dirt. Swish checked, but the ump didn’t see it that way. He punched him out, which led to the next oddity of the inning.

AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Nathan Denette

The punchout drew the ire of Joe Girardi, and rightfully so. The home plate ump had called a terrible game to that point, and I guess that pushed Girardi over the edge. He emerged from the dugout, hatless because he had tossed it in anger, and got himself ejected. No doubt astute observers made the connection to Girardi’s tirade on June 24th of last year, after Brett Gardner got picked off first base. Girardi’s ejection was followed by Francisco Cervelli’s game-tying home run, followed by another mini rally to put the team ahead. What unfolded in the eighth inning yesterday wasn’t all that different.

For some reason, Cito Gaston decided to walk Mark Teixeira to load the bases. Walking Teixeira to get to A-Rod rarely, if ever, makes sense to begin with. But when Teixeira looks as bad as he has in the past few games, it makes zero sense. Funny thing is, if not for a blunder, it might have worked. A-Rod did strike out, but not before the third pitch of the at-bat got away from Jose Molina and allowed Gardner to score the tying run.

AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Nathan Denette

More from the theater of the absurd. With first base open yet again, Gaston opted to face Robinson Cano. After the game he said the first instance was in order to put on the double play, but again that sounds like a weak strategy, especially with a hitter slumping as badly as Teixeira is at the moment. Cano, however, is one of the hottest hitters in the league. He reminded everyone of that on the second pitch, a fastball right in the middle of the plate. He lined it to left and brought home Jeter and Teixeira, giving the Yanks a two-run lead.

AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Nathan Denette

I’ve written entire recaps shorter than that eighth inning description. That’s how bizarre it was. It took a few lucky breaks and a few blunders, and maybe a fired-up manager inspiring his team if you buy that story line, but the Yankees had taken the lead And no one, not Joba Chamberlain, not anyone could take it away from them.

Biggest Pitch: Wells breaks up the no-no

AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Nathan Denette

Plenty of pitchers hold their opponents hitless for the first three frames. Many extend those to four or five. Once a pitcher hits that two-thirds marker is when things start to get exciting. Javy Vazquez was one one out away from that point when he faced Adam Lind for the third time. He’d walked and struck out previously, and in this at-bat it looked like he wasn’t going to swing at crap. He fouled off a 1-0 curveball, but didn’t move the bat from his shoulders for the rest of the appearances. After six pitches he walked to first base.

Still, the no-hitter was in tact when Vazquez faced Vernon Wells. He kept the ball away from him, going slider-curveball for a called strike and a foul. The count 0-2, Javy went back to the slider, but this one hung. Even though it was outside, Wells had enough time to get his arms extended and crush the pitch to left, giving the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead. With the Yanks offense again on the ropes, it must have been a deflating feeling. Vazquez did finish the inning by striking out Jose Bautista.

For Vazquez, the game represented the best-case scenario. As we mentioned before the game, if he brought his command he could slice and dice an offense like the Jays, one that relies on big swings and pulling the crap out of the ball. He used all of his five pitches and prevented the Jays from turning on an inside fastball. His line tells the whole story:

7 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 9 K

Unfortunately, the one hit was a long fly that came immediately after one of the four walks. Those are the breaks. Vazquez had a plan and executed. With a full-strength Yankee offense he wins that game easily. Instead, the Yanks had to catch that lucky series of breaks in the eighth to hand him the nice, but meaningless, point in the win column.

The biggest pitch of the day for Vazquez was the changeup, which he threw 21 times and on which he generated swinging strikes 10 times. He also had some success with the slider, 16 attempts and 13 strikes, including three whiffs. It’s understandable why he went with that pitch against Wells. It was just a bad time to hang one.

Just think, next time Javy gets to face the Astros, not only the worst offense in the league, but also a National League team, which is obviously Javy’s natural habitat.

WPA graph and box score

If this WPA graph were a water slide, Aaron Hill’s GIDP would make it not so much fun.

More at FanGraphs and the traditional box at mlb.com.

Up Next

It’s an off-day but not really, as we have the amateur draft. Mike will be around with the coverage. The Yanks head down to Baltimore on Tuesday, when Phil Hughes goes against Kevin Millwood.

Filed Under: Game Stories Tagged With: Derek Jeter, Javy Vazquez

Some good, but mostly bad in Javy’s latest

May 28, 2010 by Joe Pawlikowski 48 Comments

Photo credit: Frank Franklin II/AP

Javy Vazquez would do well to purchase ear plugs before his next start at Yankee Stadium. After two excellent starts, in which he allowed just two runs on six hits in 13 innings. Even better, he struck out 13 to two walks, a much better ratio than he was sporting prior to the start against Detroit. By many indications he, as we’ve heard commentators say, “figured it out.” Something wasn’t right in his first five starts, but a brief rest gave him time to collect himself. Or something else of an inspiring narrative nature.

It’s clear that Vazquez’s velocity has declined this season. His fastball averages 89.1 mph right now, down 2 mph from 2009, and down 3 mph from his superb 2007 season. That’s not completely unexpected. Vazquez will turn 34 in June, a time when many pitchers start to lose velocity. With four quality pitches in his arsenal — fastball, curveball, changeup, slider, plus a two-seamer — he seems like the type of pitcher who can adapt. That is, as long as he retains command of his pitches. So far this season, at least in terms of his fastball, he has not. We saw that on display again last night after the two-game reprieve.

What stood out about last night, other than how hard the Twins hit the ball, was Vazquez’s pitch selection. He went with the four-seamer 57.4 percent of the time, odd because he’s thrown it 38.1 percent of the time this season. The changeup had been his go-to secondary pitch, constituting 19.5 percent of his overall pitches, but last night he threw it just nine times, while going to the curveball 15 times and the slider 13. Maybe he wasn’t feeling the changeup, maybe the gameplan was to go with breaking pitches. I don’t know. What I do know is that Vazquez certainly altered his pitch selection in this start.

The real interesting bit is Javy’s pitch chart, but before that I just wanted to throw up this one. The strike zone, it appeared, was fair. (And if you look at Blackburn’s strike zone plot it looks pretty similar.) There’s just one area that troubles me. At the bottom right, you’ll see a cluster of green dots. Those are pretty clearly strikes, yet Javy didn’t get the call at all. There’s even one green dot that appears closer to the zone than the red dots to its left and to its right.

Unsurprisingly, that green cluster of called balls consisted mostly of sliders. That’s the perfect slot for a slider, low and away to a righty, yet Vazquez did not get the call. That’s not an excuse for his performance — none of this is an excuse — but if he’s not getting that call he has to try something else. If another of his pitches isn’t working, well, it’s pretty easy to understand why he’d pitch badly in that scenario.

It looks like Javy had trouble locating the two-seamer inside. You can see a number of powder blue dots well out of the zone inside, and the few that did hit the zone caught plenty of the plate. He also missed the zone with the majority of his changeups, though I’m not sure whether that’s by design or by mistake. The only one in the zone got hit. The one on the corner caused a swing and miss. The others were nowhere near the zone. Pitchers often throw a changeup that falls out of the zone, hoping a batter chase. I’m not sure if the Twins had a gameplan to lay off the changeup, or if they looked like bad pitches out of Javy’s hand. In either case it’s clear why Javy threw it less frequently than his other pitches.

At a quick glance, it looks as though 41 of his 62 four-seamers were reasonably within the zone, which is a good sign. That cluster in the middle might look concerning, but the Twins only managed one hit there. All of the curveballs in the middle of the zone were either called strikes or hits. The one low and away was called a ball, as were the two at the bottom of the zone. Look at the two curves directly on the inside edge. The one on top was a swinging strike, the one on the bottom a ball. Directly to the left of the bottom one are two more curveballs. They were both called strikes.

Javy did recover a bit in innings three and four, and it looked for a minute as though he might have been able to avoid disaster. But that didn’t last, and he ended up leaving with a pretty ugly final line. He said he battled better last night than he had in his earlier starts, and in a way I can see that. Clearly he didn’t have command of anything other than his four-seamer — perhaps a residual effect of his finger injury — and he got beat seemingly every time he went with a breaking pitch. But when you go into a battle with one weapon, it’s hard to avoid getting shelled. I’m not totally discouraged by the start. What will discourage me is if he pulls the same thing against the Orioles on Tuesday.

Filed Under: Pitching Tagged With: Javy Vazquez

Hard to beat a good team three times

May 28, 2010 by Joe Pawlikowski 57 Comments

With the way the Yankees have scored runs lately, we should be thankful that the Yankees’ pitching held up in the first two games. Javier Vazquez couldn’t make like A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte, and that was clear from the beginning. The Twins hit the ball hard all night, while the Yankees’ bats languished. Again, this one would have stung a bit more had the Yanks not taken the first two, especially with the way they won last night.

Biggest Hit: Cano the deficit hawk

Photo caption: Andy King/AP

There was a point during last night’s game where the Yankees stood a chance. They had been down on the scoreboard all evening, but they had hit Nick Blackburn fairly hard, though the effort only resulted in one run through five innings. The Yanks threatened to change that immediately in the sixth. Mark Teixeira drove a first-pitch changeup to right-center for a leadoff double. Alex Rodriguez popped up to second, leaving the job up to Robinson Cano.

Blackburn delivered a first-pitch curveball right over the plate, and Cano pulled a grounder down the right field line. It went all the way to the corner, allowing Teixeira to score and Cano to reach second without a throw. Cano had cut the deficit in half and gave the Yanks two more chances to pull within one. But neither Nick Swisher nor Juan Miranda succeeded in his attempt.

Cano also drove in the Yankees’ first run, singling home Brett Gardner in the fourth.

Jason Kubel, Yankee killer

Photo caption: Andy King/AP

The lead here is easy. Kubel shocked the Yankees 11 days ago, spoiling a sweep at the Stadium. The follow up didn’t sting quite as badly, though the bar was set pretty high. It started in the second inning when Michael Cuddyer flied one into the gap in right-center. That brought up Kubel, who ran the count 2-2 before hitting a low curveball that caught a bit much of the plate. His gap shot put the Twins up 2-0. With none out in the inning, the Twins were still able to bring home Kubel when Alexi Casilla grounded into a double play.

An inning after Cano put the Yankees to within two, Kubel struck again. Javier Vazquez, who had settled down since the two-run second, stayed away from Kubel, laying three fastballs around but definitely outside the zone. On the 2-1 Vazquez went to his curveball and delivered it to nearly the same spot as he had the previous time against Kubel. This time he got all of it, sending it well over the wall and extending the Twins lead to 5-2.

In the seventh he had a clear advantage. Chad Gaudin does not pitch at all well against lefties. Kubel already had a double and a homer against a righty pitcher. Gaudin went to work, careful stay away from Kubel’s pull zone. He mostly succeeded, but on the ninth pitch it didn’t matter. Gaudin delivered a fastball outside, and Kubel got his arms extended. If there was any chance of a comeback at that point, it disappeared with that swing.

Wasted chances

Photo caption: Andy King/AP

The Yankees collected 10 hits in the game, but had trouble putting together rallies. That seems to be the theme of the past few weeks. They had a chance to break the dry spell in the first, but Alex Rodriguez couldn’t get it done. With runners on the corners and one out he grounded one to short, which wasn’t the easiest double play but it was quick enough to beat A-Rod to first. He’s not going to succeed every time, but when runs are scarce his failures hurt plenty.

Nick Swisher followed Robinson Cano’s RBI single in the fourth with a single of his own, setting up the Yankees with runners on first and third with two out. Juan Miranda got a chance to give the Yanks another run and keep the inning going, but he instead grounded weakly to second.

Those were the only times the Yankees had more than one runner on base. After the Miranda groundout they went 1 for 12 the rest of the way.

Bad Javy

Photo caption: Andy King/AP

At the beginning of the season Javy Vazquez pitched poorly. Then he pitched very well in two starts. Now he’s pitched poorly again. Can we create the Good Javy, Bad Javy designation, too? Because that’s so much fun.

Vazquez had the same problem with his fastball as he had earlier in the season. The lack of velocity is a concern secondary to his command, but velocity is a concern nonetheless. It looked like a slightly more contained start from earlier in the year, which is just what the Yanks can’t afford while they slump. Yanks have a streaking A-Rod and Teixeira? This start is a bit easier to stomach. But when the offense hasn’t worked, the Yanks need their pitchers more than ever.

Thankfully, Javy has a few easier starts to bounce back. He’ll get the Orioles next, though the Blue Jays have been hitting very well so far.

Said Girardi after the game: “He left some breaking pitches up.” Exactly.

WPA graph and box score

I have nothing nice to say about this WPA graph, so I will say nothing at all.

More at FanGraphs. Traditional at MLB.com.

Next up

It’s quite an upcoming stretch for the Yankees. This weekend it’s a four-game set against the last-place Indians. Then the last-place Orioles come to town. The Yanks then fly up to Toronto, which will be their toughest games in this stretch. Then it’s down to play last-place Baltimore, and then back home for a weekend set against last-place Houston. If there is ever a time for the Yankees’ bats to wake up, it’s during this stretch.

The rejuvenated Fausto Carmona takes on Phil Hughes tomrrow night.

Filed Under: Game Stories Tagged With: Javy Vazquez, Robinson Cano

Vazquez skipped again

May 15, 2010 by Joe Pawlikowski 15 Comments

While Tuesday’s rainout forced the Yankees to use Sergio Mitre for a second straight start, it also afforded them some flexibility the next time through the rotation. They’ll use it to skip Javier Vazquez’s next start, which would have come Monday or Tuesday against Boston. Instead he’ll start the series opener against the Mets Friday night at Citi.

Clearly, the Yanks want Vazquez to get a few more starts under his belt before placing him in a high-pressure game. They’re not going to be able to have Vazquez skip the Sox every time through, and at some point he’s going to have to pitch in a big game. Skipping his last start seemed to work, though, so maybe they’re in the process of getting him back on track.

Also, make sure to check out injury updates on Nick Johnson and Chan Ho Park below.

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: Javy Vazquez

Vazquez might be bad, but alternatives not much better

May 3, 2010 by Joe Pawlikowski 154 Comments

Once Andy Pettitte re-signed for the 2010 season, the Yankees sought just one more pitcher to fill the rotation. That would leave only the No. 5 spot vacant, ripe for a competition, in name at least, between Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain. An additional veteran would afford the Yanks a bit more flexibility in the rotation. They would have a solid top four even if the No. 5 winner flopped, and would have depth in case of injury.

Photo credit: Nathan Denette/AP

A few names of interest appeared on the free agent market. Ben Sheets, who missed the entire 2009 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his throwing elbow, topped the list because of his ace potential. Justin Duchscherer, who also missed all of 2009 recovering from an injury, represented another interesting name. He made a successful transition to the rotation in 2008 before suffering his injury, and his ground ball stuff figured to play well at Yankee Stadium.

Finally, Joel Piniero, who found success by inducing ground balls in 2009, hit the market. While he had a leg up on Sheets and Duchscherer, he also had a far spottier past. After two and a half excellent seasons with Seattle in the early 00s, Pineiro fell off a cliff. From 2004 through 2006 he pitched 495.1 innings to a 5.60 ERA. His strikeout rate dropped precipitously during that period, going from 7.1 per nine in 2004 to 5.1 in 2005, and finally to 4.7 in 2006. The Red Sox, under the advice of Allard Baird, signed him to close games in 2007, but that didn’t work out too well. It wasn’t until last season, his second full season under Dave Duncan’s tutelage, that Pineiro showed a consistent ability to record outs.

Yet the Yankees opted to avoid the free agent market. The decision was understandable. The three pitchers who would have best fit the Yankees’ need, at a reasonable salary, all carried considerable question marks. Instead they turned to the trade market and acquired Javy Vazquez from the Braves. The cost wasn’t high in Yankees terms. They swapped Melky Cabrera, along with his eventual $3 million salary, and high-upside prospect Arodys Vizcaino for Vazquez. It seemed to complete the Yankees rotation, giving them a bunch of top-three guys in the first four spots.

As we’ve seen through his first five starts, Vazquez hasn’t worked out to this point. At the same time, neither have any of the other choices. While Sheets and Pineiro haven’t performed quite as badly as Vazquez, they’ve struggled in their own ways. Duchscherer shined after struggling in his first start. He allowed just two runs in 19 innings during his next three starts. During his last start against Toronto, however, he left the game with pain in his hip. He described it as similar to the problem that kept him out for 2009. That was certainly one of the concerns with signing him during the winter.

Photo credit: Lori Schepler/AP

Pineiro actually started off the season strong, allowing just four runs in his first 20.1 innings. He actually struck out a decent number of batters 13, nearly 16 percent of all batters he faced. For comparison, last year he struck out 12 percent of all batters faced. All the while he kept his walk rate low, 3.7 percent of batters faced, against 3.1 percent last season. It hurt even more that one of those excellent performances came against the Yankees with Vazquez on the mound. Yet things went south pretty quickly.

In his last two starts Pineiro has lasted just 9.1 innings and has allowed 16 runs, 15 earned. Opponents have hit a home run as often as they have struck out. While Pineiro has kept his walk rate characteristically low, just two of 51 batters faced, he has seen his strikeout rate tank, just 6 percent of batters faced. Thankfully, the first such poor start came against the Yankees, who lit him up for six runs on 11 hits, none of which were home runs, in 6 IP. The Tigers, another team Pineiro dominated earlier in April, smacked him around on Friday, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits, including three homers, in just 3.1 innings.

Ben Sheets’s most recent start almost mirrors Pineiro’s last effort. In 3.1 innings against the Blue Jays he allowed nine runs on 10 hits and two walks, including three home runs. After striking out 20.4 percent of all batters faced during his years in Milwaukee, Sheets has struck out just 11.3 percent this season. Meanwhile his walk rate is through the roof, equalling his strikeout rate. He has more than doubled his walk percentage this season, 11.3 percent from 5.3 percent in Milwaukee. He claims he’s having trouble with his breaking ball, an unsurprising development considering his absence in 2009.

Photo credit: Christine Cotter/AP

Again, Vazquez’s struggles at this point are a bit more severe than those of Sheets and Pineiro. Yet I feel that Vazquez has a better chance of turning it around than the others. Sheets is further removed from his surgery every day, but it doesn’t seem that his his control, or his fastball velocity, is close to being back. Pineiro impressed last season and showed that he can get through tough lineups, but how much of that can we depend on in the future. After all, before last season he hand’t been good since 2003. If all three are struggling, I’d choose Javy over the other two.

There has been nothing encouraging about Javy’s 2010 season to date. He has no idea where his fastball is going, and isn’t getting as much speed on it as he has in the past. If he somehow gets that under control, he can recover and be the pitcher the Yankees thought they were acquiring in December. If not, we’ll see a lot of second guessing. As we’ve seen, though, there weren’t many better options on the free agent market. Despite his struggles, I still believe that trading for Javy was a better call than signing Duchscherer, Sheets, or Pineiro.

Filed Under: Pitching Tagged With: Javy Vazquez

Late comeback not enough as Pineiro foils Yanks

April 15, 2010 by Joe Pawlikowski 76 Comments

This type of game will happen. Javy Vazquez wasn’t sharp, though he managed to limit the damage through five innings. It looked like he might escape doom in the sixth, but it was not to be. Not only did he allow a run on a Kendry Morales double, but Morales himself came around to score later in the inning, courtesy of Al Aceves. Mike will have more on the Morales at-bat in the morning. For now, onto the recap.

Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP

Biggest Hit: Swisher triples

Joel Pineiro had his sinker working yesterday, and it had Yankees’ hitters baffled. Through four innings they managed just one hit, a Robinson Cano double off the glove of Torii Hunter. Cano managed another hit off him in the fifth, this time a single to left. To groundouts moved him to third base with Nick Swisher at the plate.

While the count didn’t run to 3-2, Swisher did make Pineiro work, fouling off three straight 2-2 pitches after not swinging at the first four. Pineiro tried to mix things up later in the at-bat, throwing a curveball and then a changeup, but on the eighth pitch went back to the sinker. It caught enough of the zone that Swisher was able to make solid contact, driving it to right-center. Cano scored easily, and the outfielders were so ill-positioned for that particular hit that Swisher made it all the way to third.

This was actually the biggest hit of the game from either side. The Angels spread their runs out, and since the Yankees never got too close the Angels gradually moved closer to that 100 percent WPA mark. Swisher’s hit was huge because not only did it cut the Angels lead to one, but it also made Swisher the potential tying run. Brett Gardner, however, could not deliver.

Biggest Pitch: Abreu continues owning Vazquez

When Abreu came to bat in the first inning, Michael Kay mentioned how well he had hit Vazquez in the past. He spoke mostly of counting stats, but here are the rate stats, just for fun: .282/.358/.746. In other words, Abreu posted a decent BA and OBP against Vazquez, but when he hit it he hit it a ton. A hit in the first improved those numbers, but his third-inning double did the most damage.

With Erick Aybar standing on first, Abreu took a called strike one on the low-outside corner. Vazquez came back with a changeup, again outside, but this one ran a bit high. Abreu laid into it, lining it to center. It got behind Curtis Granderson, and Aybar came around to score. Brandon Wood had previously scored on Aybar’s single, so this staked the Angels to a 2-0 lead. It also led to boos from the Stadium denizens. Where do we get these fans?

Vazquez actually recovered decently, pitching two more scoreless innings before running into trouble again in the sixth.

Biggest Blunder: The eighth inning

Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP

With a 5-1 lead heading into the eighth inning, the Angels looked poised for victory. Mike Scioscia turned to his erstwhile setup man, Scot Shields, long-time Yankee-killer, to hold a four-run lead. It was immediately clear that, at least on this day, he was not up to the task.

After a failed bunt attempt Shields delivered four straight pitches out of the zone to Brett Gardner. That’s usually a terrible way to start an inning, but with the Yanks down four it was unlikely Gardner would take a base. Derek Jeter tapped one to the pitcher after taking two pitches, and he beat out the throw to first, setting up the Yanks with runners on first and second.

Nick Johnson might have had the best at-bat of the game in this spot. He took the first three pitches, a called strike followed by two balls, before fouling off the next five. On the at-bat’s ninth pitch Shields went back to his curveball and placed it on the outside edge. Johnson jumped on it, though, lining it to center and scoring Gardner. The Yanks, as they always seem to do, sent the tying run to the plate.

Scioscia had seen enough of Shields. With the game on the line he turned to Kevin Jepsen, who was all over the place. It did work to his advantage, though. A wild pitch put runners on second and third, but Mark Teixeira couldn’t deliver. He grounded one to short. It scored Jeter but didn’t advance Johnson and accounted for the inning’s first out. Alex Rodriguez drew a walk in the next at-bat, so he became the tying run.

Robinson Cano whaled one to third base in the next at-bat, and I have no idea how he beat out the double play. It looked tailor-made, especially for a player with Cano’s speed. He was just safe, though, preserving the inning. Here’s where Jepsen’s wildness helped. After throwing just six of his first 15 pitches for strikes, Jepsen came back with two straight in the zone to Posada. He took both, and eventually — and predictably — struck out on a low slider.

Teixeira’s ground out lowered the Yankees’ chances of winning by 8.3 percent. Cano’s fielder’s choice brought it down another 8.8 percent, and Jorge’s strikeout, with the tying run on first base, sunk it another 9.8 percent. The Yanks had a grand opportunity to tie the game, or at least bring it within a run, and failed to do so.

Aceves slowing it down

Either the gun was cold — which is possible, since Vazquez topped out at 90 — or Aceves was a bit slow with the fastball yesterday. It topped out at 89 on the Pitch f/x gun. He didn’t look very good in general, perhaps because he hasn’t gotten much work this season.

Things that annoyed me

The eighth, even though the Yanks scored runs. It seemed like a classic comeback in the making. Instead if was marred by middle of the lineup futility. Thankfully, we know these guys will come around.

Hideki Matsui. Come on. The Angels hit three doubles today. I’m not wishing Matsui added to that, but rather that he hit a double in place of, say, Torii Hunter.

The fans. There’s no need to boo Vazquez, especially in the third inning. He recovered nicely, and he nearly finished his appearance with six innings and two runs. Alas, that was not to be, and the sixth inning was quite annoying. Still, there’s just no need for the booing, especially in freaking April.

Mark Teixeira. Yeah, I know. We’ve seen his April struggles first-hand and know that he makes up for it later. It doesn’t make it any less annoying while it’s happening, though.

Also, it’s been two games at home this season and we haven’t seen a walk-off. This team is clearly a bust.

Things that made me smile

Joba. He allowed a hit, struck out a batter, and still needed only nine pitches to retire the side.

Robinson Cano’s continued excellence. Even in the eighth he whaled the ball. Too bad it was right at Wood.

Nick Swisher. For his gritty at-bats and his hustle around second and into third.

Nick Johnson. Coming through big.

Also, someone mentioned this in the chat last week. New York Nicks. That gonna take?

Derek Jeter. Because while it seems everything he hits is a grounder to short, he’s still hitting .324.

WPA Chart

To FanGraphs for the full boxey.

Up Next

It’s a battle of season debuts, as Phil Hughes takes on Scott Kazmir tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Filed Under: Game Stories Tagged With: Javy Vazquez, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano

Rays rally in fifth to spoil Javy’s return

April 10, 2010 by Joe Pawlikowski 45 Comments

Tonight’s game felt a bit familiar. Not completely familiar — when the Rays blew out the Yanks in early 2009 they hit Chein-Ming Wang in the early innings. It took until the fourth to rough up Javy Vazquez, though the Rays did a pretty good job of it. David Price was on his game, looking strong until his pitch count crept up to and then over 100.

Biggest Hit: A-Rod’s long double

Photo credit: Mike Carlson/AP

Through the first three innings David Price looked more like an ace than the Rays’ No. 4 pitcher. His only blemish to that point was a four-pitch walk to Nick Swisher, but he retired the next three with ease. In the fourth, though, he ran into trouble on the very first pitch. Nick Johnson pulled a pitch on the outside corner for his first base hit of the season, setting up a scoring opportunity for Teixeira and A-Rod.

After two curveballs, a ball and a called strike, Price delivered a fastball low and away, which A-Rod fouled off for strike two. He went to the changeup with two strikes, and left it high and away. A-Rod got his arms extended and smoked it over B.J. Upton’s head for what appeared to be a double. Nick Johnson chugged around the bases and scored, drawing a throw that allowed A-Rod to take third. An errant throw sent him home.

A-Rod was credited with .201 WPA for the play, though this is where individual player WPA breaks down somewhat. Should A-Rod get credit only for the double? Or should he get credit for creating pressure, taking third and drawing the throw, thereby provoking the error? I’m of two minds but lean towards the latter.

Biggest Pitch: Carlos Pena ties it

Photo credit: Mike Carlson/AP

Javy didn’t look quite sharp when he came out for the fourth. Ben Zobrist opened the inning with a four-pitch walk. After Evan Longoria flied to to center, Carlos Pena came to the plate. Javy seemed a bit focused on the runner, throwing over before each pitch. Perhaps he thought the chances of Zobrist running were greater with the lefty up.

None of the pitches to Pena was particularly good. The first pitch, a curveball, stayed high for ball one. He got the second pitch, a 90 mph fastball, on the inner half, and Pena fouled it off for strike one. The at-bat’s final pitch, a waist-high 89 mph fastball, went over the right field fence and tied the game. In itself it wasn’t terrible. The game was tied, there was plenty of baseball left. It’s what came net that sunk the Yanks.

Biggest outs: Aybar and Navarro

While Javy’s final line looked a bit ugly, he did impress by working out of a jam in the second. Longoria started things by grounding an outside fastball, the fourth outside pitch of the at-bat, to right for a single. Carlos Pena followed by drawing a seven-pitch walk, coming back from an 0-2 hole. B.J. Upton had an RBI opportunity, but instead grounded one to the right side. He cost the team an out, but set them up with second and third with one out.

After dropping a curve for strike one, Javy came back with two straight changeups to Willy Aybar to record the strikeout. He again worked exclusively with his secondary stuff, two curveballs followed by two changeups, to finish the inning by retiring Dioner Navarro. The Rays’ WE after the Pena walk was .644. Navarro’s ground out brought that back to the mid-inning .500.

The goat: Javy Vazquez

This was not the best way to celebrate a return to pinstripes. At first it looked like Javy might have gem in him. He set down the Rays 1-2-3 in the first, worked out of a jam in the second, and returned for a 1-2-3 inning in the third. Things fell apart in the fourth, and at that point he put a lot of strain on the Yankees’ offense to score runs off David Price, who, again, looked like an ace for most of the night. Even with his 1-2-3 fifth, Jazquez had already claimed the title of goat.

Even if you hadn’t watched this game, Javy’s line tells much of the story. 5.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 8ER, 3 BB 5 K, 2HR.

Defense saves runs

With the lefty on the mound, Joe Girardi once again started Marcus Thames over Brett Gardner. Quickly, Thames is showing that he might not be the best candidate to play the field. He did pick up a hit, but his defense cost the Yankees two runs. After Vazquez recorded the second out of the inning, the Rays were up 3-2 with runners on first and second. Jason Bartlett drove a liner to left. Thames tried to dive and catch it but could not. I imagine Gardner would have been there and would have stayed on his feet while making the play.

The question of platooning Gardner really comes down to the value of the player replacing him. Does the potential of Thames’s bat against lefties really outweigh his poor defense? Sometimes he might get a big hit where Gardner would have floundered, but I think it’s more often that he’ll cost the team with his glove. Joe Girardi will hopefully abort this experiment by the time the Yankees face the Angels next week.

Things that annoyed me

Everything after the Pena homer.

Things that made me smile

A-Rod’s double, Johnson’s two hits, the fight the Yanks put up in the eighth.

WPA chart

Which is not so awesome tonight.

Check out FanGraphs for the full box score.

Next up

The game is on FOX tomorrow afternoon. This is me being excited about that.

Filed Under: Game Stories Tagged With: Alex Rodriguez, Javy Vazquez

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next Page »

RAB Thoughts on Patreon

Mike is running weekly thoughts-style posts at our "RAB Thoughts" Patreon. $3 per month gets you weekly Yankees analysis. Become a Patron!

Got A Question For The Mailbag?

Email us at RABmailbag (at) gmail (dot) com. The mailbag is posted Friday mornings.

RAB Features

  • 2019 Season Preview series
  • 2019 Top 30 Prospects
  • 'What If' series with OOTP
  • Yankees depth chart

Search RAB

Copyright © 2025 · River Avenue Blues