Javier Vazquez will be 3,000 miles away from the Bronx boobirds when he takes the mound in Oakland tonight trying to get his 2010 season on track.
The right-hander has gotten off to a brutal start in his return to the Yankees, losing his first two starts in an ugly fashion that has left him with a 9.82 ERA.
Last Wednesday, Vazquez heard it from the Yankee Stadium crowd as he exited a loss to the Angels in the sixth inning. With nearly everything going right for the Yankees so far this season, the few things that have gone wrong — like Vazquez — are magnified.
The Yankees say they are not concerned about Vazquez, who will turn 34 on June 25.
“You’re not talking about some young kid,” pitching coach Dave Eiland said. “Javy’s been around a long time. His timing is just a little bit off. That’s all it is.”
Vazquez has spent the last five days working with Eiland to correct a glitch in his mechanics. They have been trying to slow his delivery. Vazquez said he gets too quick in his motion nearly every year and has to work to remind himself to slow down.
“That’s the main thing I usually do wrong in my mechanics,” Vazquez said. “I drift and my arm stays back, not where it’s supposed to be.
“It’s easily correctable. This is something that I’ve done pretty much all my career. Sometimes I get away from it a little bit. I have to remind myself to get back to it.”
When Vazquez’s delivery speeds up, his ball drifts over the plate. Vazquez’s velocity has also been down in his first two starts. He likes to pitch in the 92-94 mile per hour range, but last Wednesday he was topping out at 91.
“I’m not concerned,” Vazquez said, believing the speed will increase as the season goes on. “You start building, building and then I start throwing hard.”
The one thing Vazquez does not have to worry about tonight are boos. He entered this season carrying the baggage of the Yankees’ 2004 ALCS collapse, when he gave up a Game 7 grand slam to Johnny Damon in the Red Sox’s historic victory that completed their rally from a three-games-to-none deficit.
In two starts, Vazquez has not been able to get rid of that baggage. It may not be totally gone until he gets a win in October, but a few victories in the next few weeks would definitely help.
“I’ve still got to come back and pitch [in The Bronx],” Vazquez said. “I just have to get on the right path with my mechanics and my game and take it from there.”
If Vazquez does not get this turned around quickly, things will get ugly. Just ask Yankees pitching flops of the past like Ed Whitson, Hideki Irabu, Jeff Weaver and Carl Pavano.
Of Yankees pitchers who have thrown a minimum of 200 innings, Vazquez has the third-worst ERA in franchise history at 5.17, trailing Weaver (5.35) and Andy Hawkins (5.21).
“Fans are fans,” Vazquez said. “I know once I get going and start pitching better they’re going to root for me. They’ve booed a lot of people before. Even when I was here before in ’04, they booed [Derek] Jeter. You’ve just got to start pitching well and forget about it.”
Additional reporting
by Joel Sherman