Javier Vazquez has played in the NL from 1998-2003, then the AL in 2004, then the NL again in 2005, then the AL from 2006-08, then the NL in 2009, then the AL in 2010. Now he's back in the National League. And he's back at Minute Maid Park.
*Vazquez' fastballs sits at 91mph for his career, but that dropped off to 88.7mph (89.7mph avg in his first start of '11) in 2010, and he threw that 53.4% of the time. Next up is the curveball (17.3%), changeup (14.7%), and slider (14.5%) - all using 2010 numbers with the Yankees.
*He got batters to chase outside the zone 30.4% of the time in 2010, with a 27.7% avg for his career.
*Against the Astros - in any form - he's 4-5 in 14 starts, with a 4.37 ERA/1.29 WHIP. But at Minute Maid, he's 2-2 with a 2.83 ERA/1.03 WHIP, allowing 28H/11ER, 32K:8BB in 35IP.
*His last time facing Houston was on September 8, 2009, when he went 7IP, 3H/0ER, 9K:4BB in a 2-1 Atlanta win.
*Carlos Lee is 4x15 with 3HR (all solo shots), with 3K:1BB against Vazquez.
*On the road, he's 74-78 for his career with a 4.48 ERA/1.30 WHIP and a 3.04 K:BB ratio - all worse than his home splits.
*Vazquez does a pretty good job w/RISP - allowing a .264/.335/.426 line for a .761 OPS, not terribly higher than his .706 OPSa with the bases clear. With 2 Outs/RISP, Vazquez has only allowed 18HR in 1116 PAs, and opponents have recorded a .669 OPS.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
