A Streak Comes to an End

With today's 8-4 loss at the hands of the Angels, the Yankees have finally dropped their first series of the season. They opened the year with five consecutive series wins over the Red Sox, Rays, Angels, Rangers and A's, during which time the team has looked nothing short of dominant.

The offense is being led by Robinson Cano who is looking like he can contend for a batting title. His swing is as smooth and quick as ever and his defense has been impressive. He homered today and is now batting .368/.411/.646 with five home runs, 14 RBI, 17 runs and two stolen bases. Batting out of the five hole, Cano could go off for career highs in practically all of his offensive categories. The most promising sign is how he's been hitting with RISP (.333 avg, 1/2 K/BB ratio) and with RISP w/ two outs (.429 avg, 1/1 K/BB ratio).

Also having notably good seasons thus far are Derek Jeter (.316 avg, 3 HR, 3 SB), Jorge Posada (.315 avg, 4 HR) and Alex Rodriguez (.294 avg, 2 HR, 10/11 K/BB ratio). Teixeira is having a typically slow start (.119 avg, 16/11 K/BB ratio) but he's been swinging the bat better over the past couple of games and as the calendar turns over to May, I think he'll break out of the funk. New acquisitions Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson and Marcus Thames have fit in well. Granderson has played stellar defense in center, is looking decent against lefties so far (.250 avg) and has come up with some clutch hits. Johnson hasn't found his swing yet, but is seeing a ton of pitches per plate appearance and already has 18 walks in 16 games played. In limited action, mainly against lefties, Thames has a .462 average with one home run.

The pitching has also been a strong point, with one exception. Javier Vazquez has been terrible and it's no surprise that he was on the mound for the clincher of today's first series loss. He gave up five runs in three and 2/3 innings today to push his ERA to 9.00 in 20 total innings. He has a bad history against the Angels, and Bobby Abreu specifically (10 career homers off of Vazquez), but the team surely wants to begin seing some improvements. He's given up too many hits and home runs (five home runs allowed in four starts) and, after posting an excellent 238/44 K/BB ratio last year, Vazquez is sporting an uncharacteristic 18/11 K/BB ratio. I think he'll eventually bounce back, but he definitely won't be posting numbers like he did in Atlanta. Then again, nobody probably expected that type of dominance in the AL anyway. He'll be an effective fourth starter in due time, but it'll certainly be hard to trust this guy once the  pressure of the games increases, such as in playoff baseball.

Vazquez has been the outsider this year, as the rest of the staff has been fantastic. Andy Pettitte is having a spectacular April, going 3-0 in 28 innings with a 1.29 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 22/9 K/BB ratio and .216 BAA. He's really looked sharp and healthy and it's great to see. C.C. Sabathia (2-1, 3.00 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 23/10 K/BB ratio), Phil Hughes (2-0, 2.19 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, 16 K in 12 IP) and A.J. Burnett (2-0, 3.29 ERA, 16/8 K/BB ratio) have all been exceptional. Hughes has really shown some flashes of dominance, especially in his last start. Burnett has been wild at times, but has done an excellent job of limiting the damage and showing poise with runners on base - he's kept the team in every game he's pitched. If Vazquez can turn it around and the Yankees truly do get a break out season from Hughes, the team arguably has the best pitching staff in baseball.

With today's series win streak coming to a close, this year is still full of promise for the defending world champions. Manager Joe Girardi has to be happy with what he's seen so far, but there's always room for improvement (i.e. Vazquez and Teixeira, some members of the bullpen). Hopefully the Bombers begin a new series win streak starting on Tuesday when they travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles for a three-game set.

The Replacements - Part II

Another area of need the Yankees addressed during the offseason was starting pitching depth. Last season, Chien-Ming Wang went down with a serious injury early. Phil Hughes performed beautifully in the bullpen, but struggled in some spot starts. Joba Chamberlain faded down the stretch and posted some concerning numbers overall - 4.75 ERA, 167 hits + 76 walks in only 157 innings pitched (1.54 WHIP), 21 HR allowed. Many were expecting much more from Joba, including myself, and now one is left wondering if he will start spring training competing for a rotation spot or in the bullpen, but let's leave that for another post.

Those circumstances forced the team to rely on Sergio Mitre (nine starts), Phil Hughes (seven starts), Chad Gaudin (six starts) and Alfredo Aceves (one start, excellent long relief work). While those players performed admirably it was clear that a durable starter who could eat innings was a necessity. On to the next replacement, you may remember this one, he's worn the pinstripes before.

Javier Vazquez - To say Vazquez was a disappointment when last with the Yankees would be an understatement, posting some of the worst numbers in his career (14-10, 4.91 ERA, 150 K's in 198 innings). You also may remember, painfully, game seven of the 2004 ALCS. Coming in for an ineffective Kevin Brown in the second inning Vazquez promptly served up a grand slam to Johnny Damon. Afterwards he was shipped out of a town for Randy Johnson and earned a reputation for not being able to get it done in the big game. While it's possible that Vazquez's struggles in the big city linger, there is reason for optimism. The Yankees needed an innings eater and they certainly got one - he has averaged 215 innings per season since 2000, his durability is his main asset. In 2004 he was brought in to be the ace of the staff, he will no longer have that type of pressure with a guy like C.C. Sabathia in the clubhouse. I'm assuming he'll slot behind Andy Pettitte into the number four spot of the rotation, in order to keep a lefty, righty system going, but that remains to be seen. Nobody would question his talent and arsenal - he has the tools to be an ace, as he showed last season when he went 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and struck out 238 batters in 219 innings for the Atlanta Braves. He has a dominant fastball, solid curve and above average change-up. He does tend to struggle when men are on base and has some trouble giving up the long ball, but he always keeps his walks down and therefore is able to minimize the damage. It's going to be interesting to see how he fares this season, but I believe he'll do well. I think he'll fall somewhere in between what he did last year and what he did in 2008 while pitching for the White Sox in another homer-friendly ballpark. My prediction: 16-8, 3.80 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, .250 BAA and 200 K's in 210 innings. Not too shabby for a third or fourth starter.

Javier Vazquez Statistics