Major League Baseball

Vazquez still a work in progress

Published May. 13, 2010 5:08 a.m. ET

foxsports

On Wednesday, Javier Vazquez turned in his finest start as a Yankee since September 2004. He still lost, 2-0, to Rick Porcello and the superb Detroit bullpen.

Afterward, Vazquez was asked if he feels like his old self — the guy who won 15 games last year for the Atlanta Braves.

“I can’t say that by one game,” the right-hander replied. “I really can’t.”

And if he can’t, then why should we?

Vazquez remains a work in progress, notwithstanding his tidy line against the Tigers: seven innings, two earned runs, both season bests.

For a moment, at least, he rubbed away the question of whether his time in the rotation is short. He showed that he isn’t nearly as lousy as his numbers entering the matinee suggested (1-3, 9.78 ERA). But he hasn’t yet silenced those who doubt that he can repeat his National League effectiveness.

In the words of one scout: “He’s not a No. 1, 2 or 3 anymore. He’s a back-end guy in the American League.”

That’s OK, actually. When the Yankees acquired him from Atlanta, they envisioned him as a No. 4 starter, behind CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte. But he hasn’t pitched up to the standard of a fourth starter this year — certainly not a fourth starter in the rugged AL East.

Wednesday was different. Vazquez was very good. And if his teammates had played to their par — nearly six runs scored per game — he would have departed with a well-deserved victory.

“Javy threw the ball great,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “Very pleased with what he did.”

Vazquez listed a number of things that he liked about the outing: his aggressiveness, his location, his mindset, his focus, his pace.

Yet, if you expected him to make the swashbuckling pronouncement that he will dominate the division … you came to the wrong locker.

“When you throw a pretty good game, you get a little confidence going,” he told the assembled media. “But like I said: I’ve still got a lot of work to do. Little by little, hopefully I’ll make improvements.”

One good afternoon won’t change Vazquez’s reputation — particularly in New York, where he was booed in his most recent outing at Yankee Stadium.

Opinions there can be slow to change. But Vazquez will get his chance to win back some fans in his next start, which will come against the Red Sox or Rays at the Yankees’ hitter-friendly home. If he lasts until the seventh inning stretch in that game, the story of his revival will be much more credible.

Remember, too, that Vazquez had a couple factors working in his favor on Wednesday. He was going on 10 days of rest, which enabled him to work on his mechanics in additional bullpen sessions. And favorable scheduling by the Yankees steered him around last weekend’s series at Fenway Park.

Vazquez won’t turn 34 until June, but he admits that his arm isn’t as lively as it once was. His average fastball has dropped from 91.1 mph in 2009 to 88.9 this year, according to FanGraphs.com.

Many of his fastballs registered 88 or 89 mph on the Comerica Park radar gun. He also had a sharper-than-usual breaking ball at his disposal.

“I wish I (could have) been throwing 92, 93 like in years past,” he said. “Right now, it’s not there. That’s why you’ve got to locate. That’s what I did today. I located better.”

There was the two-run sixth inning, during which his mechanics wavered for a spell. But the reviews were overwhelmingly positive.

A good start, indeed.

“I needed one,” Vazquez said. “Everybody knows I needed a good game.”

And now, everyone knows that he needs another.