Meet the Sox

Javier Vazquez

The addition of Javier Vazquez to the 2006 White Sox rotation gives the Sox pitching depth they haven’t seen since the days of Juan Pizarro, Gary Peters and Joe Horlen in the early 1960s.

Overview:  Seeking both an upgrade over El Duque at the back of the rotation and some leverage in the ongoing negotiations with Jose Contreras and Jon Garland, Kenny Williams snuck into the Javier Vazquez derby and came out with the former Expos ace.  He gave up Hernandez (who’s done as a starter) and Luis Vizcaino (who’s utterly replaceable), with center fielder prospect Chris Young being the only valuable chip surrendered.

At the very least, it’s an upgrade for 2006, since Young doesn’t figure to hit the big leagues for most of the year, if not all of it.  At the very most, the White Sox will have a new top-of-the-rotation starter.  At the very, very most, they’ll have another top-of-the-rotation starter to pitch with the four other top-of-the-rotation starters.

Pitching:  Vazquez is a hard guy to figure out.  At first, people thought he might’ve had a bit of Bret Saberhagen in him, alternating quality years with disappointing ones.  Then they thought he couldn’t handle the New York Pressure (all rights reserved), except he was just fine in his first half season in the Big Apple.

Last season in Arizona, he put up outstanding stats – except when it came to wins, losses and ERA.   He struck out 192 batters while only walking 46, good for the fourth-best K-to-BB ratio in the league.  Yet somehow he finished 11-15 and with a 4.20 ERA while pitching in Major League Baseball’s worst division.

So what gives?  Well, home runs allowed for one – 35 of them in all, good for a distant second behind Cincinnati gopher ball king Eric Milton for the league lead.  But after that, it’s not easy to decipher.

The Cheat at South Side Sox pointed out that when Vazquez was hit hard, he was hit hard.  In his worst four starts, he lost all of them while compiling a 21.46 ERA.  In all the others, he was 11-11 with a 3.33 ERA.  That’s semi-comforting.  It’s also semi-reminiscent of James Baldwin.

If Vazquez had one problem that was more significant than any other last season, let’s hope it was the defense playing behind him, as that’s one thing the Sox automatically have an answer for.  A flyball pitcher won’t have phenomenal success with Luis Gonzalez (bad shoulder), Shawn Green (bad knees) and Jose Cruz Jr. (bad everything) behind him.  Infield and outfield, the Sox will have a far superior eight gloves backing Javy.

That being said, let’s proceed to…

Defense:  Vazquez committed three errors last year, more than any other White Sox pitcher.  But scouting reports tell me that he gets to more balls than the average pitcher, so hopefully this is a quantity issue.  

What we do know is that Javy has an excellent track record at holding runners, allowing only 11 stolen bases in the last three seasons combined.  This is a key for Sox pitchers, since they’re throwing to catchers with below-average arms.  He’ll join Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland as Sox hurlers who can keep the stolen bases at a minimum, while replacing El Duque, whose ability to keep runners near the bag was fading with his velocity.

Overall:  Given Vazquez’s outstanding peripherals, he could easily be another feather in the hat of a fellow former Yankee, Sox pitching coach Don Cooper.  He should automatically become the team’s best strikeout pitcher (he had 38 more than White Sox 2005 leader Jose Contreras), and his problems aren’t anything Cooper hasn’t seen before during his time with the Sox.

• Homers allowed?  Check (Jon Garland)
• General underachieving?  Check (Freddy Garcia)
• Head issues?  Check (Jose Contreras)
  

Throw in an excellent Sox defense that helped every pitcher on the staff out, and Javy could easily be one of the top pitchers in the American League if he puts it all together.  There's no reason why we should hear the words "Chris Young" more often than "Cy Young."