Starscreams | If this is the Diminished Vázquez, Sign us Up, pt. 2 (58.04)

[mragland]

Starscreams: A Valencia Stars Baseball Blog

If this is the Diminished Vázquez, Sign Us Up

04/03/2058
Brianna Robles, Starscreams contributor


Spring training stats are often weird and not super useful; 99.9% noise, and 0.1% signal. That said, the context of Vázquez's spring training this year is important, and perhaps lends some significance to his performance. Last spring, he injured his shoulder and was out (ultimately) for the season. This spring, there was a very real worry that Rubén was a broken toy who might not be all that special a pitcher any more.

In other words, Vázquez had something to prove this spring (to himself, to the organization, to the fans)
and he knew it. Vázquez had five starts in the spring, twenty-two and a third innings in all. He struck out 21 of 89 batters faced, for an 8.5 K/9. He tallied, in all, a 0.81 ERA, 48 FIP-, and a very springy 544 ERA+. Do we pop the champagne at this point? Not really, but it was encouraging that Vázquez neither had an extra stubborn layer of rust to shake off from his year away from the game, nor did he appear at all to be a busted heap. In the spring, he looked like what he had been signed to be, the best starter option on the team.

So, when he was named as the opening night starter by the club, we could greet that news with a shade less trepidation than we might have if Vázquez had looked liked warmed over garbage in the spring tune-up. In his first start against a real BBA lineup, Rubén looked … pretty much the same? He went seven innings against the Surfers. After a solo Fernando Castillo home run in the first, Vázquez settled right in. He would strike out 10 of 26 batters faced, allowing 4 hits, and 2 walks. This is what's known as a great performance, and thanks to a Tim Bartlett grand slam in the fifth, a win for Vázquez in his first start of the year.

What we know for sure after one start is that Rubén is still capable of turning in a great performance on the mound. How many he has in him for the remainder of 2058 is still uncertain for a variety of reasons. He has a significant injury history, and there's still the possibility that the scouts have it right, and that Vázquez actually is diminished, and that while this game was a gem, it was also an outlier. Pitching, in Valencia, seems to be a perpetually white knuckle affair.