New York Yankees, Javier Vazquez: Next Start Might Be A Long One At the Stadium
April 26, 2010 · Bronx Baseball Daily · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Yesterday I wrote that New York Yankees hurler Javier Vazquez could turn around the fans that weren’t on his side with a pair of strong performances this week.
He needed a win Sunday to soften the home fans leading up to his next home start this Saturday, but instead he’s only given the boo-birds more ammunition and probably even recruited more fans to their side.
So get ready, because his next start in Yankee Stadium is going to be ugly.
Vazquez will probably turn his season around eventually, but so far we’ve seen nothing to suggest that it will happen this coming weekend.
If he steps onto the mound without his very best stuff, he’s going to get attacked by the home fans.
Luckily for the Yankees, they have a good enough team to give Vazquez the time to work through his struggles.
This is due in large part to Phil Hughes , who has joined the rotation and looks like he might have the potential to be the team’s No. 2 starter behind CC Sabathia .
The top three starters have also bought Vazquez some time.
Part of the reason why was that he was brought in for insurance, in case the heavy workload Sabathia, AJ Burnett , and Andy Pettitte experienced last season came back to haunt them.
So far, the top three have not experienced any drawbacks from their World Series march, and this gives Vazquez time.
The problem is that Vazquez seems to be letting the pressure get to him, even though it is not coming from the Yankees—thanks to their strong rotation—and that pressure is real.
As a result, Saturday is not going to be fun for Javy.
Pitching in that environment is going to be very stressful, and may just prolong his struggles.
The answer might be to juggle the rotation and try to get Vazquez more starts on the road until he straightens himself out.
Manager Joe Girardi might not be considering this right now, but another bad Bronx start might just change that.
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