Vasquez Last Night (4/14)

[chisoxt]

I think that I noticed his problem in general...While he has great stuff, he seems to more of a thrower than a pitcher in that on rare instances does he ever pitch inside. Last night, on an outside pitch, Troy Glaus hit an opposite field run-scoring double, that in my opinion, changed the momentum of the game. Hawk was commenting on how filfthy the pitch was and how you had to give Glaus credit. This may be true, but there was no way that Glaus could have gotten to that pitch had Vasquez done a better job with his locations of the previous pitches, which were away, away and away.

[DBAHO]

All part of the Don Cooper "coaching" experience.

 

I think with Vazquez, most people know it's gonna end up being a good acquisition for us, but it may take a little time. Contreras took a season and a half before he started to dominate etc.

 

And Javier's gonna have a few bad games at the Cell with his flyballing ways. But he's a much better bet than what we had last season with El Duque in the #5 spot.

[fathom]

I think that I noticed his problem in general...While he has great stuff, he seems to more of a thrower than a pitcher in that on rare instances does he ever pitch inside. Last night, on an outside pitch, Troy Glaus  hit an opposite field run-scoring double, that in my opinion, changed the momentum of the game. Hawk was commenting on how filfthy the pitch was and how you had to give Glaus credit.  This may be true, but there was no way that Glaus could have gotten to that pitch had Vasquez done a better job with his locations of the previous pitches, which were away, away and away.

 

The Glaus AB was similar to the Sweeney/Politte AB from last wknd. Vazquez had thrown like 4 straight fastballs on the outside corner to Glaus. Thus...it was much easier for Glaus to be expecting that pitch in that location. Our pitchers have got to get back to throwing inside again.

[G&T]

The Glaus AB was similar to the Sweeney/Politte AB from last wknd.  Vazquez had thrown like 4 straight fastballs on the outside corner to Glaus.  Thus...it was much easier for Glaus to be expecting that pitch in that location.  Our pitchers have got to get back to throwing inside again.

 

What really pissed me off about that AB was that Vasquez threw three fastballs that Glaus was late on, then threw him a curve that he could cath up to. That's a situation where hit and tight could end the AB.

[RME JICO]

What really pissed me off about that AB was that Vasquez threw three fastballs that Glaus was late on, then threw him a curve that he could cath up to. That's a situation where hit and tight could end the AB.

Throwing anything other than fastball when a hitter has been late is a bad plan, especially anything over the plate. Widger was calling the game, so I guess he asked for it and JV didn't shake him off.

[G&T]

I get the feeling that Vasquez has the same problem that Contreras had, when he gets in trouble he throws the junk instead of the fastball. The problem is nobody chases it. When he learns to establish the fastball early in the game and work from there, he will be a solid pitcher again.

[santo=dorf]

His name is spelled "Vazquez." That's all I have to say.

[Whitewashed in '05]

Dye didn't help him get out of that ugly inning either...

[Kyyle23]

Dye didn't help him get out of that ugly inning either...

 

No, Dye's throw to home directly led to that inning being blown open. If Rios hadnt advanced to 2nd base on the throw, the next ball put into play was a tailor made double play ground ball. Vazquez was definitely hurt by Dye's throw.

[elrockinMT]

Big league hitters will hit "hangers" and hit them hard. Consistencywith good pitches and with good location will make the difference. I guess with only 2 weeks in the season and we are only 1 game out makes me think that we still are the guys to win this one again. Cleveland and Detroit have had some decent pitched games while we haven't had as many, but are right there with them. The Sox staff is too talented not to come around. However, it sure is frustrating to see our bullpen get jacked around like they are and starters giving up 7 or 9 runs a game.

[marsh]

Javy last nite and both of Garland's starts I noticed this. Low and away pitch after pitch. Usually the first time through the order it's been fairly effective but once these guys come up and are looking away they are getting shelled.

 

If they miss their location and leave it up over the outer part of the plate it's going for a home run. If they actually hit their location guys are still getting good swings on the ball since they are leaning out over the plate.

 

I think the one time Javy elevated his fastball to a hitter the guys swung and missed for a K. I don't think he went up with a fastball after that.

 

Still despite those three outings I'm pretty confident in all five starters.

[rventura23]

I was impressed with Vazquez in his first outing, so I was surprisingly unimpressed watching him at the game yesterday. His fastball was slower than I thought (barely reaching 90 on the stadium gun, mostly around high 80s ), he used his changeup effectively at times but a lot of his junk was not. Given his first outing I think he'll be fine this season but not quite as dominating as I first thought. He's a great 5 pitcher though.

[ottawa_sox]

I, too, was surprised at the lack of velocity on his fastball, according to the radar gun. It was almost like he didn't get loose. I thought his location was off a lot of the time. I thought the Jays are a better than average hitting team. And I thought Javier was pretty unlucky with the number of weakly hit balls that found holes. It all added up to an ugly night. I still came away impressed with his movement and can fully understand how he can be dominating. I would like to see his velocity up and have him throw it to all 4 corners to set up his impressive set of breaking balls.

[Chisoxfn]

I think that I noticed his problem in general...While he has great stuff, he seems to more of a thrower than a pitcher in that on rare instances does he ever pitch inside. Last night, on an outside pitch, Troy Glaus  hit an opposite field run-scoring double, that in my opinion, changed the momentum of the game. Hawk was commenting on how filfthy the pitch was and how you had to give Glaus credit.  This may be true, but there was no way that Glaus could have gotten to that pitch had Vasquez done a better job with his locations of the previous pitches, which were away, away and away.

Great post. I've yet to watch enough of Vazquez to be able to agree or disagree with this statement, but from the sounds of your description it sounds pretty right on. It also sounds to me like we'll be able to get things turned. Cooper has reiterated that exact point to ever member of this staff.

 

Coop gets his pitchers to pitch agressively and confident and he'll get Javier throwing the ball inside a lot more.

[RockRaines]

I thought that Widger called a s***ty game IMO. I thought that the Jays caught on to alot of his sequences, and he never adapted to each hitter.

[Misplaced_Sox]

I really dont like how Widger calls games... hes a good back up but it seems he keeps the picthers in one dimension of their game...

 

I dont know I know Aj likes to goat batters and have the pitchers saw them off, you can defiantly tell the difference in how the 2 call games....

 

But I agree with Vasquez in that he needs to set up his "pitches" more. He has great stuff but when you show the same pitch over and over, great movement or not, good hitters figure it out.

 

But I am really happy with him overall despite the bad outing. He has real great movement and his arm looks REAL live so early in the season.

[Gregory Pratt]

I really dont like how Widger calls games... hes a good back up but it seems he keeps the picthers in one dimension of their game...

 

I dont know I know Aj likes to goat batters and have the pitchers saw them off, you can defiantly tell the difference in how the 2 call games....

 

But I agree with Vasquez in that he needs to set up his "pitches" more.  He has great stuff but when you show the same pitch over and over, great movement or not, good hitters figure it out.

 

But I am really happy with him overall despite the bad outing.  He has real great movement and his arm looks REAL live so early in the season.

 

Agreed. I much prefer Pierzynski. He knows the AL very, very well and adapts accordingly.