How long can the Yankees afford to have a pitcher out there with a dead arm?
It's obvious that Javier Vazquez's last two appearances have been miles from his previous half-dozen. Pitching coach Dave Eiland indicated last week that Vazquez has to work through that and they were going to adjust his work between starts.
It didn't work.
Is it worth running a guy with a dead arm out there, only with the hope that he can somehow be crafty enough for 5-6 innings of work and your team is not down by more than a grand slam's worth when you yank him?
As great as last night's classic come from behind victory was over Texas, the bigger issue is Vazquez's arm and what the plan is to either get him right, or go to Plan B, and what is Plan B.
Vazquez had no fastball, hardly any movement on what was his version of a fastball, and couldn't pitch inside. Why do you think Michael Young hit his early HR off the "fair" pole? He knew Javy had nothing and was just trying to stay away. So, he promptly looked away and drove the ball out of the park.
To his credit Vazquez tried to mix speeds off of his breaking ball and did his best to locate, but sadly it just wasn't enough.
What do we do now, keep "working through it", or look for another solution with less risk.
