Cheers for Javier Vazquez a pleasant turn
by Ed Valentine on Jun 2, 2010 8:03 AM EDT
in New York Yankees News
Email
PrintWait. What was that sound? Cheers? At Yankee Stadium? For Javier Vazquez? You're kidding me, right?
Nope. Vazquez actually -- and deservedly -- got cheers from the Stadium crowd last night while working seven tremendous innings. In case you haven't noticed, Vazquez (4-5) has been pretty darn good since his disastrous April.
From Mark Feinsand of the Daily News.
After opening 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA in five starts, Vazquez is 3-2 with a 2.77 ERA in his last five outings, four of which were starts. He has allowed 18 hits and eight walks in 26 innings, striking out 23. He's posted solid games in three of his past four starts, putting that dreadful first month behind him.
"I’ve been feeling good the last few starts," Vazquez said. "April was just a tough month, but that’s in the past. I’m moving forward."
With Vazquez seemingly straightened out, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes pitching like All Stars and CC Sabathia bound to turn things around is there a better starting rotation in baseball?
Here are several more Yankee notes from around the Inter-Google this morning.
Posada set to return
"I'd be happy if (Wednesday) was (Tuesday); I need to play," Posada said. "I thought I was coming off the DL (Tuesday) and that I would be in there. They say no, so I can't do nothing about it. Just get ready for (Wednesday)."
Bombers Beat: Tex expects to be on the field
Mark Teixeira doesn't sound too worried about the bruise on his left foot, which he felt after fouling a pitch off himself in the first inning Tuesday:
"I fully expect to be in tomorrow," Teixeira said. "When you have bruises like that, bruises are usually OK. A lot of ice tonight and rest and I'll probably play tomorrow."
Swisher's season has been quietly great | SNY.tv: News
Nick Swisher's personality shouldn't overshadow the right fielder's offensive production.
The Yankees entered Tuesday first in the Majors with 289 runs scored, but they wouldn't have that many without Swisher. Cano got press for his blistering start. Rodriguez has gotten press for his mammoth grand slams, and Teixeira's hot and cold streaks receive plenty of analysis. But Swisher's .312/.394/.553 line has come with little fanfare. What does he have to do to get a little attention around here?
Joba has strong 8th inning after Sat. meltdown - NYPOST.com
Chamberlain said he put Saturday's meltdown behind him immediately. "The day's over," he said. "You learn from it and you get the opportunity to come back. That's the greatest thing about being in the bullpen. You have to have a short-term memory and understand what you have to do to be successful when you get back out there."
Scorching Jeter still ‘old’ reliable - NYPOST.com
There were two more hits from the captain in last night’s 3-1 victory over the Orioles at the Stadium in which Javier Vazquez and Joba Chamberlain made statements from the mound in the Yankees’ fourth win in their last five games and sixth in their last eight.
But the hits and a nifty play behind second base in the second inning on which Jeter ranged to his left to throw out Luke Scott from the outfield grass were further declarations that the captain is surely on his way back from wherever he’d been as late as May 19, when he was batting .266 with an alarming .312 on-base percentage.
Well, alarming to some and not alarming at all to Jeter, who scoffed at the thought when asked if, at any point, the numbers had begun to concern him.
"After 30 games? Concern after 30 games?" Jeter responded incredulously and rhetorically after his 2-for-3 lifted his average to .307 on the strength of a 19-for-38 spree over the last nine games. "I don’t care about looking up and seeing the .260’s; I’ve looked up at the scoreboard and seen .180 at the end of May.
"But that’s not it. I never focus on myself because when players start focusing on themselves, that’s when you have problems.
"If I’m hitting .180 or .480 and play a particular game, I have a chance to help the team win," Jeter told The Post after his sixth straight multi-hit game. "I don’t think about myself."
32 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Love the Jeter quote
His early “slump” is nothing new. He’ll probably wind up in the .320 range or higher again this year.
And Swisher should be an all-star. He credits Kevin Long (who some thing should be fired cuz Tex isn’t batting 1.000) for his new approach and its obviously working. Cano and Swish I think should be locks, especially since its up to 35 spots now. Jeter’s probably in by default cuz of the lack of SS’s in the AL.
Vazquez bounced back nice. If he’s gonna throw like he has post April, which..why not, that’s the pitcher he’s always been, yea..Yanks got the best rotation in baseball. The Big man is the only one who’s struggling right now.
"What's your plan?? Rob Fort Knox on elephant back? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard....."
Good for Javy
hung tough in bases loaded jam, that’s what the fans want to see. The hefty lefty needs to turn
it around, but I believe he was 4-3 at this time last year too.
His mother has a tattoo that reads, "Son".
"I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.
Stay thirsty my friends."
Long
I have to admit, during 2008 and early 2009 I was calling for Eiland and Long’s head on a stick. But I have to say I truly admire them as coaches now. Long has a great ability to squeeze the most out of his hitters and Eiland and JoeG find ways to really settle the bullpen down after a rough patch. As for Javy, the Magnificent Bastard did a fine job. Especially escaping that bases loaded jam in the 7th.
I was skimming through the game thread this morning and I have a question… who the hell is YankeeCountry and why does he insist on A-Rod inserting things in him? Not that there is anything wrong with that.
by HappyLuckyGoldenDragonNumber1! on Jun 2, 2010 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions
who the hell is YankeeCountry and why does he insist on A-Rod inserting things in him? Not that there is anything wrong with that.
I think he’s just a youngin trying to find himself
"What's your plan?? Rob Fort Knox on elephant back? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard....."
Gotta love
the young man’s enthusiasm though, you can tell he loves his Yanks. Like when he asked during the game thread how long people have been Yanks fans, and a few responded from the womb or since birth, said “impossible”….LOL!
His mother has a tattoo that reads, "Son".
"I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.
Stay thirsty my friends."
Well ...
Here’s to hoping you guys teach him the ropes around here, and teach him to behave himself in our midst.
Hes a young new guy.
He’s got heart, and he wrote a pretty good fanpost you should check out.
On another note, sorry for stealing your “here’s to hoping”, Ed. Lol I didn’t realize you had just said that.
New Yorker looking for sports talk and debate!
by Gelatin on Jun 2, 2010 9:49 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I'm sure we'll all do our best
He’s a Cowboys fan, so well….it ain’t gonna be easy
"What's your plan?? Rob Fort Knox on elephant back? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard....."
Stick to baseball
and you’ll be fine, Free. Everyone has flaws. Cowboys, though? Cowboys? C’mon, man. A Yankees/Cowboys fan? How does THAT happen?
by Ed Valentine on Jun 2, 2010 10:16 AM EDT up reply actions
lol
I don’t know. Duggan have a public service announcment on it I think
"What's your plan?? Rob Fort Knox on elephant back? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard....."
by FreeBradshaw on Jun 2, 2010 10:20 AM EDT up reply actions
Uh, yeah
Don’t look now, but there’s a Lakers blog membership on his bio too . . .
by pkyankeefan on Jun 2, 2010 3:20 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
dynasties?
there’s a common link, i guess…
Happy Javy ...
I know I’m not a big Javy fan, but I am a big Yankee fan, and Javy’s performance last night was certainly good to see.
"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will
A lot have long term memories
Also, a guy who is a control pitcher and is around the plate a lot is going to let up his share of gopher balls…Off the top of my head, the late Robin Roberts and Catfish Hunter, both Hall of Famers did. as long as they are solo shots, you can live with it…Not comparing Javy to them,
so please don’t go there folks.
His mother has a tattoo that reads, "Son".
"I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.
Stay thirsty my friends."
If I remembr
Johan Santana was ridiculed for giving up many HR. I think Josh Beckett too? But they still had excellent years.
As long as you’re giving up the HR when you’re in the windup (well…and the bases aren’t chucked) its OK. Not great, but OK.
"What's your plan?? Rob Fort Knox on elephant back? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard....."
Here's another Free
Bert be home by Eleven…I believe he has the record for one season, around 59, yes I said 59 in one season, and the aformentioned Roberts is the career leader.
His mother has a tattoo that reads, "Son".
"I don't always drink beer, but when I do, I prefer Dos Equis.
Stay thirsty my friends."
Swisher
I think even though it shouldn’t, you hear a lot about what Swisher does off the field more than on the field.
Good to see he is getting some recognition for his on field accomplishments so far this season. Here’s to hoping he keeps it up.
New Yorker looking for sports talk and debate!
by Gelatin on Jun 2, 2010 9:45 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Im as happy as anyone about Javy's game last night ...
but , it was still pretty dicey there … he just got out of it, and this is THE WORST team in baseball … shouldbt we get more excited when he looks good against a better team?
At this point he is the #4 or #5 starter. If all he does is eat up
innings and beat the crappy teams all season long then he has done his job.
why does that matter?
you gotta beat who you face. He got tagged vs. the Twins, yea…but pitched well against Detroit, the Mets and Indians. At least one of our starters faltered against them too, so there.
it was still pretty dicey there … he just got out of it,
Not many pitchers go through a game where they don’t pitch out of a jam. Andy, AJ and CC do it all the time and “just get out of it”.
"What's your plan?? Rob Fort Knox on elephant back? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard....."
by FreeBradshaw on Jun 2, 2010 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Hey man, a win’s a win. This is baseball, not football. The season’s long, and even bad teams have great performances. Giving up 1-2 runs is a solid outting, and Yanks just had a hard time getting things going against Matusz, who is a definitely a good pitcher. Without the run support he just had to keep it close, and that’s what he did.
while you make a point there
and others have noted that all pitchers wind up in jams of one sort or another and work out of them, there’s also something to be said about our offense not doing much against a pitcher on the “worst team in baseball,” to be fair and use the same argument on both sides.
Javy gave up one run (which happened to be one of only 4 hits) in 7 innings of work. If he pitched like this consistently, he’d probably be a candidate for being a #2 or #3 starter rather than #4/#5.
It’s not his fault the offense was sputtering. He did what we got him to do, give us innings (preferably quality innings) and he delivered in this game. Granted, giving up the solo shot right after we got the 1-0 lead was counter-productive, but with our offense, I was truly expecting at least 5 runs, not 3 with 2 being from an error.
It’s a win and I’ll take any win after that horrendous 13-11 loss.
It seems like when Javy pitches, the offense either runs into a great pitcher
or just can’t see to get moving. I definitely think last night was an example of the former. Matusz is nothing to sneeze at.
I think most of us knew we had nothing to worry about with Jeter. It seemed silly to even bring it up, but there will always be people who think if you are missing a play here or there and you aren’t batting 1.000 that your career is done and you should be traded for the latest bandwagon flavor of the week.
"It ain't like he brought it from home." -Derek Jeter
by WhatwouldJeterdo on Jun 2, 2010 12:14 PM EDT reply actions
no love for AJ
With Hughes and Andy pitching like all stars, is there a better rotation in baseball? A perfectly accurate statement, but I think AJ is no doubt an all star. 6-2 with a 3.28 era. we know the guy has nasty stuff but this is his best season so far. the walks are down and hes on pace for 19 wins, the most for him ever. if he stays healthy and maintains good AJ, he is a number one starter. throw in hughes cc when he gets right andy and a good javy and then u have the best rotation
Agreed
AJ came out and pitched an 8-inning gem after that meltdown Joba had. The team needed more than a quality start from him, and he provided. He’s definitely a key part of the rotation.
It’s nice to see Vasquez seeming to finally get it together. From what I’ve seen of him, the cheers will do more good for him than anything Dave Eiland could tell him.
Swisher seems to be a fantastic teammate – he always looks like he’s having a great time. I had no idea that he had a bad reputation before he came to us. He reminds me a lot of Johnny Damon with the same bubbly, slightly goofy excitement and on-the-field passion and dedication. It’s nice to see him getting some recognition too.
"All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost..."
(Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien)
J.V.
Great game by Javy. He worked very fast and was constantly ahead in the count, This guys going to get it together and win about 15 games this season.
by Ghost Face Killer on Jun 2, 2010 6:20 PM EDT reply actions
My eyes are closed but my
fingers are crossed.
Here’s to you being right.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Pinstripe Alley
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
