More on Virgil Vasquez

by Charlie Wilmoth on Jan 27, 2009 1:03 AM EST

The Post-Gazette's comparison of Virgil Vasquez to Josh Fogg is a useful one, I think, because the two pitchers seem to have similar skill sets, and because Pirates fans understand who Josh Fogg is. I want to add a little addendum here, though, because the Fogg comparison may suggest expectations that I really doubt are there.

This is Vasquez's age-27 season. By the start of Fogg's age-27 season, Fogg had won 22 big-league games. And Fogg has never been designated for assignment three times, as Vasquez has this offseason. Personally, I don't think Fogg was ever very good, but even expecting Vasquez to have Fogg's modest career would be expecting way too much, and I would be very surprised if anyone in the Pirates organization expected that of him. They're just looking for a bit of extra depth, and a team in the Pirates' situation has to take any opportunity to add anyone who comes cheap and potentially start in the big leagues without completely embarrassing himself. Vasquez is no Josh Fogg, but he's better than, say, Yoslan Herrera, and that's probably all the Pirates expect him to be.

Tweet Comment 13 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Josh Fogg himself

is still available, isn’t he? If he is, I’m guessing it would be because his injury issues are still dogging him. He may be very close to the end of the line, and that would be too bad.

I guess I shouldn’t have been so harsh on the people who like Minky, given the lengths to which I’ve advocated Josh here. To give them their due, they both put up a mediocre level of production, but if that’s all you’re asking for out of the role you’ve given them, then they’re doing their jobs, and doing them cheap. The difference would be, Josh is useful (or was, before last year) for bringing the bottom of your rotation up a little; if you’re a contender and your other options are people like JVB, Kuwata and Herrera, he could help keep the 5 spot from becoming an unmitigated disaster and maybe make the difference in a close race. Whereas, if you’re playing Minky a lot, it’s because your top end has come down, due to injury or nonproduction (Jose Bautista).

by bucdaddy on Jan 27, 2009 3:47 AM EST reply actions