Javier Vazquez to Boston?

[Zenny]

Vazquez being "unable to pitch in the clutch" is a myth. He had a mechanical failure where he was dropping his elbow and shoulder, which both tipped off his pitches (especially to lefties- see the Damon homerun, he said he was looking for a first-pitch fastball, recognized it and hammered it) and lessened his control a great deal. If he had a competent pitching coach, it would've been fixed after one bad start instead of lingering for half a season and leading to him being traded.

[stevece80]

Why, because Fenway is a bad park for home runs, especially against right handed pitchers? If Vazquez went to Boston, he'd actually have a pitching coach.

 

Good call! Just kidding, that was actually obvious to anyone who has been paying attention the past couple of seasons.

 

And the brilliantly named 2090 was dead-on about Clement. He's allowed a whopping 1 home run at Fenway thus far. One home run ended the Red Sox season in 2003, so Clement obviously has a lot of work ahead of him.

[Tek4pres]

Why would you want to replace a guy who has come in and potentially had an all-star first half in Clement with a guy who has done nothing but struggle in a large market. I don't care if you can label Vazquez's problems a mechanical breakdown. That's beside the point in my mind. Why do you bring a completely unknown quantity into a big market like Boston when you have alternatives already on the team? I can understand that people have doubts about Clement continuing his success, but you're telling me you have less doubts about Vazquez?

[stevece80]

Why would you want to replace a guy who has come in and potentially had an all-star first half in Clement with a guy who has done nothing but struggle in a large market.

 

Vazquez had 9 wins and an ERA of 3.42 last June 30th. Clement has 9 wins and an ERA of 3.33 on June 30th this year.