I suppose White Sox fans should have seen this coming: another meltdown by starter Javier Vazquez. The book on Vazquez over the course of his career has been that he is a great pitcher when there is not any pressure on him.
However, when there is pressure, he folds. That's exactly what Vazquez did today, earning a loss by allowing six runs on eight hits and one walk in 4.1 innings.
Vazquez didn't have "it" today—and he hasn't had "it" ever since the White Sox started needing wins out of him in mid-September. With his start Thursday, Vazquez has allowed six, five, seven, and six earned runs in his last four starts against the Yankees, Twins, Indians, and Rays, respectively.
A large part of this downturn has been a drop in velocity in Vazquez' fastball. In Thursday's game, Vazquez was consistently hitting around 89-91 mph with his fastball—this coming from a starter who usually is in the 93-94 mph range. That difference in speed is the difference between striking somebody out or having them foul off a pitch. It's the difference between a foul ball and a double, a groundout to second and a base hit up the middle. His fastball, simply put, was hittable today, as he wasn't locating it well either.
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Even worse, he was staked a 3-1 lead after Dewayne Wise nailed a three-run home run off James Shields in the third inning. Vazquez went and gave it right back, allowing three runs to score in the bottom of the frame, giving the Rays a lead they would not relinquish.
Luckily for the White Sox, there may be a solution to the Vazquez problem. Clayton Richard—who had a 6.04 ERA in 47.2 innings as a rookie this year—threw 3.1 impressive scoreless innings in relief of Vazquez. Richard located his fastball well, which set up his offspeed pitches nicely.
If the White Sox advance to the American League Championship Series, maybe it's time for Vazquez to be dropped from the rotation in favor of Richard. If you told me four weeks ago that I would be typing that sentence at this point, there's no way I would have believed it, but let's be realistic—every time Vazquez takes the mound, the White Sox have a good chance of losing unless they can hit four or five home runs.
With Richard, there's at least the possibility that he might turn in a decent performance. That doesn't seem to be the case with Vazquez right now. He certainly has the potential to break out of this slide if given another opportunity, but the playoffs are not a time for hoping that somebody can break out of a slump. If a player needs to be replaced, he should be replaced.
Javier Vazquez needs to be replaced if the White Sox advance.
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about 1 month ago
Yeah and the fact that his own manager has said just that can't help his confidence at all.. Guess when it comes down to it, you find out why Vazquez has always been a .500 pitcher.
I thought that Vazquez would have held in long enough for the White Sox to get a lead and turn it over to the pen.. They got that lead but Vazquez gave it right back.
Interesting thought about replacing Vazquez though. Richard did look good and it was a bit of relief for them that they haven't had. I think the can bounce back in game two though. This series is far from over.
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