He was just trying to see if he could make his fastball go back in time.

 

Not enough Gigawatts. [Jigawatts?]

I'm not worried about Vazquez's velocity on the first game.

 

 

I'm not either. No sense in him pushing himself this early. He has nothing to prove. He is going to be a starter.

see Maddux, Greg

 

 

Although probably not the best example, it does have some validity. You could go around MLB and find plenty of pitchers that as they have aged have lost a few MPH on their velocity. Those that continue to be successful are the ones that become smarter pitchers. We're going to have to wait and see how this plays out, but 88 on Feb 28th? Not a biggie.

Does Javy have a cutter? If not, he should add that to his arsenal.

Just an idea.

In order for Vazquez to find the success that soft throwers have had, he needs to completely reinvent himself as a pitcher. Since most of his success has been attributed to his own ability to overpower hitters, it is absurd to justify his drop in velocity in terms of the apparent effectiveness of any sub-90 MPH pitcher.

 

Remember that the drop in velocity was probably the main reason as to why he sucked so terribly in NY last season. He averaged 88 MPH last season, which leads me to suggest that topping off at 88 MPH right now is a highly probable sign of what his velocity will be in April. It's very rare that pitchers lose that many MPH one season and regain it in the subsequent year.

 

If he's topping off at 88 MPH (or even averaging that), he needs to make some major adjustments from last season or we could see a 4.50-5.00 ERA season from him.

Does Javy have a cutter? If not, he should add that to his arsenal.

Just an idea.

 

Not really. He's thrown one before but so infrequently that you might as well say he doesn't have it.

Doesn't Javy throw a pretty good slider and curve?

see Maddux, Greg

 

That is incredibly uninformed and superficial.

 

You seem to be assuming that velocity is the dominant mode of differentation between pitchers. Of course, guys who throw in the low 90s and high 80s can be successful, but their success can be attributed to a basket of extraneous performance features.

 

For one, Vazquez has a much higher flyball rate than Maddux had. A lot of Vazquez's previous success was attributed to being able to overpower pitchers.

 

Maddux killed it with that two seamer he used to throw. Plus the zone was bigger back in the 90's ( see Livan game in playoffs, lol) and Maddux took full advantage of it. Vazquez needs to sit at least at 91-92.

see Maddux, Greg

 

That is incredibly uninformed and superficial.

 

You seem to be assuming that velocity is the dominant mode of differentation between pitchers. Of course, guys who throw in the low 90s and high 80s can be successful, but their success can be attributed to a basket of extraneous performance features.

 

For one, Vazquez has a much higher flyball rate than Maddux had. A lot of Vazquez's previous success was attributed to being able to overpower pitchers.

 

Maddux killed it with that two seamer he used to throw. Plus the zone was bigger back in the 90's ( see Livan game in playoffs, lol) and Maddux took full advantage of it. Vazquez needs to sit at least at 91-92.

 

 

In a way, yes. Those Braves pitchers would keep moving the ball further out of the zone until they found out where the pitch would be called a ball, and then work within those lines. It's called smart pitching. And just like in today's game, each ump had his own strike zone. Some big, some small. It's a good pitcher that is able to overcome the ump, or IOW work within the umps "game", and use it to his advantage.

Those Braves pitchers would keep moving the ball further out of the zone until they found out where the pitch would be called a ball

 

Boy, did they ever. And it was total BS.

 

each ump had his own strike zone

 

Which was and is more total BS. Reality being what it is, I realize that I'm (currently) fighting a losing battle, but what is so hard to understand about a well-defined space?

 

I've objected to this BS of "everyone has their own strike zone" from the time I first became aware of baseball, now 50 years ago. A thrown ball is either a strike or it ain't.

 

Fortunately, technology marches on and the union hacks who call themselves umpires will be buried by it over the next 50 years, or, with a little luck many less years than that.

 

That said, I'm not yet worried by Vazquez's velocity, I suspect that he'll be fine.