08/31: The Redemption of Luis Vizcaino
Posted by: Patrick
I was thinking a bit about Luis Vizcaino because of this Roger Clemens quote from Mark Feinsand:
It's been a funny year for Mr. Vizcaino, a pitcher who, coming into this season, had thrown 3 consecutive seasons of at least 65 games and an ERA no higher than 3.75. Nothing to bowl you over, but a solid mid to end of the pen guy. He had a terrible April (15 G, 1-1, 1 BS, 5.79 ERA) and a horrific May (10 G, 1-0, 1 BS, 9.00 ERA) and (a lot of) Yankees fans wasted no time dismissing him. As often happens in the fan base (and the blogosphere), we can be too quick to throw someone aside. It reminds me a bit of what happened with Proctor.
Of course, if you were just tuning in today, you wouldn't know that because Luis has been on fire for 3 months now, providing a huge rock where one was desperately needed. Dating back to May 28, he is 6-1 with 1 BS and a 1.27 ERA. When it seemed, at least, like everyone around them was hit or miss depending on your luck, Viz and Mo held it down. With some, he went from DFA candidate to bullpen savior in a relatively short period of time. Prospects aside, by himself, he's made the Randy Johnson trade look like a great one. He's been an important piece to the puzzle.
On Luis Vizcaino: “Viz is my MVP. He’s awesome; he doesn’t say a word, he takes the ball and gets the job done. I tip my hat to that kid; he’d throw every day if Joe asked him to throw.”
It's been a funny year for Mr. Vizcaino, a pitcher who, coming into this season, had thrown 3 consecutive seasons of at least 65 games and an ERA no higher than 3.75. Nothing to bowl you over, but a solid mid to end of the pen guy. He had a terrible April (15 G, 1-1, 1 BS, 5.79 ERA) and a horrific May (10 G, 1-0, 1 BS, 9.00 ERA) and (a lot of) Yankees fans wasted no time dismissing him. As often happens in the fan base (and the blogosphere), we can be too quick to throw someone aside. It reminds me a bit of what happened with Proctor.
Of course, if you were just tuning in today, you wouldn't know that because Luis has been on fire for 3 months now, providing a huge rock where one was desperately needed. Dating back to May 28, he is 6-1 with 1 BS and a 1.27 ERA. When it seemed, at least, like everyone around them was hit or miss depending on your luck, Viz and Mo held it down. With some, he went from DFA candidate to bullpen savior in a relatively short period of time. Prospects aside, by himself, he's made the Randy Johnson trade look like a great one. He's been an important piece to the puzzle.
