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Remembering Javy’s first first start as a Yankee

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Tonight Javy Vazquez makes his Yankees debut against the Tampa Bay Rays. Only, it isn’t really his Yankees debut. That happened six years ago, on April 8, 2004. Though Vazquez was Joe Torre’s No. 3 starter, behind Mike Mussina and Kevin Brown, he didn’t start until the fifth game of the season. That was the year the team played two games against Tampa Bay in Japan. Mussina and Brown pitched those, and then pitched the next two games, played a week later, in Tampa Bay. That set up Vazquez, acquired from the Expos that off-season, to start the home opener against Chicago.

Vazquez delivers in his Yankees debut | Photo credit: Kathy Willens/AP

Vazquez had quite a task on his hands. While the top two hitters in the White Sox lineup, Willie Harris and Jose Valentin, were no great shakes, the middle of their order appeared a powerful bunch. Magglio Ordonez, coming off an All-Star season in 2003, hit third. Behind him was Frank Thomas, who had rebounded in 2003 with a .404 wOBA after two sub-standard seasons. A third straight righty, Carlos Lee, came next. A solid hitter during the first five years of his career, Lee was poised for an even better 2004. Paul Konerko hit sixth, though he wasn’t long for the spot. He had a poor 2003, but was set to rebound in 2004.

(Strangely, after the lefty Harris and switch-hitter Valentin, Ozzie Guillen’s lineup featured seven straight right-handed hitters. Not something you see very often.)

Javy didn’t have any troubles to start. Harris flied out to Matsui in left, Valentin struck out swinging, and Ordonez popped one behind the plate. The Yankees went to work in defense of their new pitcher, scoring two runs in the first thanks to Scott Shoeneweis walking two straight to load the bases. With the lead in hand, Vazquez was in control. He worked around a pair of singles, including one by Thomas, in the second, and then avoided damage after walking the speedy Harris in the third.

A one-out walk to Thomas in the fourth proved costly, as tapper by Lee advanced him to second, and then a Konerko single scored him. That, however, was all the White Sox would manage off Vazquez. He retired the next 13 batters he faced, inducing seven ground balls and two infield pop ups while striking out one. The only batter to come close to another hit was Konerko, who hit a fly ball deep to center. Bernie tracked it down, though. With a 3-1 lead in hand, thanks to a Jorge Posada solo homer, Mariano Rivera came on to close it, securing a win for Vazquez in his pinstriped debut.

The Yankees could not have asked for more in Vazquez’s first start. He went eight innings, using just 106 pitches to record those 24 outs. Only five White Sox reached safely and only one came around to score. While he struck out only one from the fifth inning on, he struck out four in the first four frames. He also worked quickly, greatly aiding the game’s pace. It finished in just under two and a half hours, a great departure from the three games we saw to open the 2010 season.

Tonight Vazquez will face a lineup perhaps tougher than the 2003 White Sox. The middle of the Rays order — which features Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, and B.J. Upton — figures to be its strongest in years. The top of the order, too, with Jason Bartlett and Carl Crawford, could cause problems for Vazquez. I don’t think we can expect anything like the eight innings Javy pitched in his 2004 debut, but I also have faith that he can work through the Rays lineup with minimal damage. I, for one, and pretty psyched to have him back in the rotation.

Hindsight makes the Vazquez deal look better

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The Yankees made it clear when the off-season began that they planned to sign a starting pitcher. In 2009 they dealt with a constantly fluctuating fifth starter spot, plus Joba Chamberlain’s growing pains. The team understandably wanted to solidify that rotation rather than placing both Chamberlain and Phil Hughes in the rotation, especially after the former pitched more innings than previously in his career, and the latter faces an innings limit in 2010. As we moved through the off-season’s beginning stages, most of us thought that the Yankees would sign Justin Duchscherer or Ben Sheets. Instead they traded for Javier Vazquez.

At the time I argued it was a good move. Vazquez has been a solid pitcher in most seasons of his career, mixing average seasons with excellent seasons. At worst he’s the best fourth starter in the league, and probably a mid-range third starter. At best he complements A.J. Burnett as a No. 2. That sounds like an acceptable range of outcomes. The price was right on Vazquez, too. In addition to his $12 million salary, the Yankees traded the exact type of player they should in this case. Melky Cabrera, while a solid contributor last season, has shown himself a league average player during his Yankees tenure. Arodys Vizcaino is a young prospect a few years away from the majors. Mike Dunn was a throw-in, offset in a way by Boone Logan.

In Vazquez, the Yankees not only received a potentially excellent starter, but also a durable one. Only once in the last decade did Javy miss the 200-inning mark, and even then he hit 198 innings. That, I think, represents a large part of the decision to trade for Vazquez rather than sign one of the free agent starters. Both Sheets and Duchscherer are coming off injuries which kept them out of action in 2009. Perhaps the year off rejuvenated them, but that’s still a hefty bet. Maybe Sheets pitches 170 innings in 2010. But is that a bet that, as a GM, you’d be willing to make?

Now we see where Sheets and Duchscherer have landed. Duchscherer signed a one-year, $2 million deal that can pay him up to $5.5 million with incentives. That seems like a steal, and perhaps the A’s did get a familiarity discount. The Yankees could have easily made that move, but Duch has never crossed the 150-inning mark in his life. The price might have been low, but the Yankees had no way of expecting the kind of production they wanted from a rotation signing. It was a nice thought — Duchscherer did, after all, dominate in his first full season as a starter, allowing under one walk plus hit per inning pitched. But with the history of low inning totals and a completely missed 2009 campaign, the Yankees wanted something of a better bet.

Sheets got $10 million plus incentives, not quite the $12 million he sought but closer than I thought he’d get. The Yankees reportedly like Sheets, but in this case I can see why they weren’t willing to wait him out. It was pretty clear at the winter meetings that Sheets wasn’t signing any time soon, and the Yankees wanted to get their situation in order. They couldn’t know what kind of contract Sheets would eventually command, but it figured to be substantial. The Yankees apparently deemed him not worth the wait. It wasn’t because of ability — at his best, Sheets is a better pitcher than Vazquez. Durability certainly played a role in the decision to trade for Vazquez rather than wait out Sheets.

I know a number of fans did not like the Vazquez trade, and I doubt anything will convince them that it was the right move. But upon seeing how the free agent pitching market played out, I have a hard time arguing against it. The Yankees traded the type of players they can afford to part ways with for a pitcher who fits their mold — durable, possibly dominant, whereas Sheets is dominant, possibly durable. When considering all other possible options and outcomes for that open rotation spot, the Yankees did well for themselves.