Daily Notes: Ft. Unrelenting Javy Vazquez Baseball Coverage
Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for today’s edition of Daily Notes.
1. Even More Javier Vazquez Baseball Coverage, Crazy!
2. Action GIF: Javier Vazquez’s Curveball
3. SCOUT Leaderboards: Puerto Rican League
Even More Javier Vazquez Baseball Coverage, Crazy!
Since last week’s update of the Puerto Rican League leaderboards, former major-league pitcher and potentially-again major-league pitcher Javier Vazquez has made another start (his fifth) for the Leones of Ponce — in which start Vazquez posted the following line (box): 6.0 IP, 25 TBF 7 K, 3 BB, 1 HR, 4:6 GO:AO. The performance further increased the right-hander’s lead over the league’s other starting pitchers, per the regressed pitching metric SCOUT- (below).
According to WEEI’s Rob Bradford, the Boston Red Sox will be actively scouting Vazquez’s next start, this Friday — for Caguas, actually — as part of the League’s playoff system. Also per Bradford, Vazquez has been throwing at 92-93 mph in workouts of late, which is consistent with — if not slightly harder than — the velocity at which he was sitting in his most recent major-league season.
Action GIF: Javier Vazquez’s Curveball
Here’s Javier Vazquez striking out Nick Evans on a curveball on August 30th of 2011 (box):
And here’s that same pitch in slow motion, from a straight-on center-field camera:
SCOUT Leaderboards: Puerto Rican Baseball League
Below are the current SCOUT leaderboards for the Puerto Rican League. (Ages as of July 1st, 2012. Players listed with most recent team. Click here for more on what is SCOUT.)
SCOUT Leaderboard: Puerto Rican League Hitters
Below is the current SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Puerto Rican League. SCOUT+ is calculated using regressed home-run, walk, and strikeout rates, where 100 is average and above 100 is above average.
| Player | Team | Age | Pos | PA | xHR% | xBB% | xK% | SCOUT+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pedro Valdes | N/A | 39 | 1B | 146 | 1.5% | 17.4% | 11.2% | 139 |
| Carlos Rivera | MEX | 34 | 1B | 138 | 3.2% | 11.3% | 14.8% | 134 |
| Andy Gonzalez | Brewers | 30 | SS | 161 | 2.4% | 14.8% | 18.6% | 127 |
| Johnny Monell | Giants | 26 | C | 121 | 3.3% | 11.6% | 20.9% | 123 |
| Luis Matos | MEX | 33 | OF | 124 | 1.3% | 11.4% | 10.6% | 119 |
| Angel Sanchez | Astros | 28 | SS | 133 | 1.6% | 10.5% | 11.4% | 118 |
| Ruben Gotay | Braves | 29 | 2B | 156 | 0.8% | 13.0% | 10.9% | 117 |
| Irving Falu | Royals | 29 | 2B | 156 | 1.1% | 9.0% | 7.1% | 117 |
| Jesus Feliciano | Rays | 33 | OF | 168 | 0.7% | 9.4% | 5.4% | 117 |
| Jeff Dominguez | Marlins | 25 | 3B | 126 | 1.6% | 14.3% | 18.3% | 116 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: Puerto Rican League Hitters (Prospects)
Here is the SCOUT batting leaderboard for the Puerto Rican League, but only populated with players who are 25 or under — i.e. something more like “prospect” age relative to the league.
| Player | Team | Age | Pos | PA | xHR% | xBB% | xK% | SCOUT+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Dominguez | Marlins | 25 | 3B | 126 | 1.6% | 14.3% | 18.3% | 116 |
| Jaime Ortiz | Marlins | 23 | 1B | 52 | 2.4% | 9.7% | 16.9% | 114 |
| Enrique Hernandez | Astros | 20 | 2B | 158 | 1.4% | 7.4% | 10.8% | 109 |
| Ivan De Jesus | Red Sox | 25 | 2B | 156 | 1.8% | 8.5% | 14.7% | 108 |
| Brandon Snyder | Rangers | 25 | 1B | 12 | 1.9% | 10.0% | 17.8% | 108 |
| Michael Perez | D-backs | 19 | C | 15 | 2.2% | 9.3% | 19.5% | 106 |
| Anthony Garcia | Cardinals | 20 | CF | 118 | 2.0% | 10.7% | 20.6% | 105 |
| Roberto Perez | Indians | 23 | C | 70 | 1.3% | 11.3% | 17.3% | 105 |
| Juan Centeno | Mets | 22 | C | 101 | 1.4% | 9.0% | 14.8% | 105 |
| Christian Colon | Royals | 23 | SS | 166 | 1.1% | 8.0% | 11.4% | 105 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: Puerto Rican League Pitchers
Below is the current SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Puerto Rican League. SCOUT- is calculated using regressed strikeout and walk rates where 100 is average and below 100 is above average.
| Player | Team | Age | G | GS | IP | TBF | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose De La Torre | Red Sox | 26 | 19 | 0 | 24.1 | 93 | 26.8% | 7.9% | 74 |
| Javier Vazquez | N/A | 35 | 5 | 5 | 23.0 | 98 | 26.2% | 8.2% | 76 |
| Jason Urquidez | Red Sox | 29 | 18 | 0 | 25.1 | 104 | 24.1% | 7.6% | 80 |
| Julio Rodriguez | Phillies | 21 | 10 | 3 | 27.0 | 114 | 24.3% | 9.0% | 84 |
| Scott Kazmir | N/A | 28 | 5 | 5 | 22.2 | 103 | 23.7% | 8.5% | 84 |
| Ricardo Gomez | IND | 34 | 16 | 0 | 17.2 | 71 | 24.2% | 9.0% | 84 |
| Randy Fontanez | Mets | 23 | 12 | 0 | 25.0 | 98 | 22.2% | 7.5% | 85 |
| Rob Bryson | Indians | 24 | 15 | 0 | 15.1 | 57 | 23.8% | 9.0% | 85 |
| Tyrelle Harris | Cubs | 25 | 5 | 2 | 12.2 | 51 | 23.2% | 8.6% | 85 |
| Giovanni Soto | Indians | 21 | 11 | 0 | 15.1 | 57 | 23.8% | 9.2% | 86 |
SCOUT Leaderboard: Puerto Rican League Pitchers (Starters)
Here is the SCOUT pitching leaderboard for the Puerto Rican League, but only populated with pitchers who’ve made at least half of their appearances as starts.
| Player | Team | Age | G | GS | IP | TBF | xK% | xBB% | SCOUT- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Javier Vazquez | N/A | 35 | 5 | 5 | 23.0 | 98 | 26.2% | 8.2% | 76 |
| Scott Kazmir | N/A | 28 | 5 | 5 | 22.2 | 103 | 23.7% | 8.5% | 84 |
| Kelvin Villa | IND | 26 | 9 | 8 | 43.0 | 189 | 21.7% | 7.9% | 88 |
| Shoki Kasahara | NPB | 21 | 7 | 7 | 31.0 | 137 | 21.6% | 8.0% | 88 |
| Derek Blacksher | IND | 27 | 2 | 2 | 10.0 | 39 | 21.3% | 8.0% | 89 |
| Tomas Santiago | N/A | 30 | 10 | 6 | 43.2 | 180 | 22.3% | 9.1% | 89 |
| Dennis Suarez | IND | 28 | 12 | 6 | 35.2 | 150 | 22.7% | 9.6% | 89 |
| Josh Romanski | Yankees | 25 | 7 | 7 | 35.0 | 144 | 20.1% | 7.8% | 92 |
| Mark Cohoon | Mets | 24 | 7 | 7 | 31.1 | 140 | 18.5% | 7.2% | 94 |
| Shinya Kayama | NPB | 22 | 7 | 7 | 37.1 | 168 | 20.2% | 8.9% | 95 |
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I know Vazquez would prefer a contender to sign him, but I would think the Marlins would be a better fit. He can do for them what Baker and Feldman are going to do for the Cubs. Hold the rotation spot for first half of the year, build some value, and then get flipped for a prospect in July.