Would you call Clayton Kershaw an "Innings Eater"? Scherzer? Verlander? Of course not. "Innings Eater" is reserved for the likes of James Shields, guys who aren't really good but who take the ball every fifth day.

And I've never called him "a bum." "Serviceable" is another word for "mediocre."

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

You're very stubborn.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

99% of pitchers aren't aces. Hell, 75% aren't very good. This is the Big Leagues. The Show. Where beasts line up with bats and protective gear. What you expect from a #3, nevermind a 4 or a 5, is completely insane.

"There are no black players on the Cubs.


A lot of people are texting in Alfonso Soriano. HE. DOESN'T. COUNT."

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I just don't get why people are arguing that an obviously mediocre pitcher is anything but mediocre and using euphemisms for "mediocre" to do it.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Is Giolito mediocre?

He's definitely not as good as people think he is.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Answer the question. I need to know the parameters of MLB mediocre. 11-9 W/L. 3.53 ERA

He's got 115 career starts and is going into his 27 year old season. I expect his next five years to be the prime of his career, but if he simply repeats the exact same 115 starts he has already had over his next 115 I would call him slightly better than mediocre, and mainly because he has had the kind of brilliant stretches that Quintana was not capable of. But if his next 115 starts are the same as his first 115 I probably won't argue if you want to call him mediocre.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

INCONSISTENT!!!!

El Ranchero is a good chip

Any of his political or social justice takes are pretty awful.

I think that's fair.
Most of us believe his next 115 starts to prove better than his first 115 starts. If they do not, then we are looking at a mediocre career.

Without looking at the numbers, I'd say Quintana showed more consistency earlier, but not near flashes we've seen Giolito show. Giolito was also a higher profile, given he was acquired.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

These posts caused me to go back and look at his numbers. The experience of watching him in 2021 felt a lot more negative than the experience of watching him in 2019, but from a numbers standpoint, he got 2021 into the same zip code as 2019.

Javier Vazquez was an 'innings eater'

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I would argue he was a tiny bit better than that. At least at his best.

He's a guy who was seen as a disappointment to those who dismiss a starter's W/L record as "meaningless" because they expected him to go from the mediocre records he was posting with the Expos to being a 20 game winner with more "run support" from the Yankees. That went bad in a hurry and 14-10 was considered more mediocre to the Yankees circa 2004 than it is now when it might garner you Cy Young consideration depending on your ancillary numbers.

He became a whipping boy for Sox fans who wanted more from him too. And dumbfuck Ozzie said, "I figure this kid out. He need the full four days rest." and then proceeded to pitch him on short rest anyway and then threw him under the bus.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Javier Vazquez was a good pitcher that you couldn't rely on to be a stopper in a playoff series. Pretty simple.

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So, an innings eater. Like Quintana.

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I have no problem if you want to call him that, though I'd say he was better than Quintana. They're similar enough with his career finished and the numbers in the books.

But here's the difference. Vazquez had monster stuff and he was worth putting up with mediocrity to see if he could put that great season together. He came close a couple years. It wasn't reasonable to think Quintana could ever do that. Thus, I wasn't at all upset to see him go. I didn't think he was going to win a Cy Young with the Cubs.

And if the Sox had had Vazquez in the 2009 rotation instead of a Contreras who was breaking down and whatever other ciphers they were sticking in there, there's a good chance they would have won the division. They for sure would have been close. Instead they gave him away for nothing.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

The Sox "gave him away" because during the stretch run in 2008 in which they needed every single win they could get, Vazquez put up these numbers over his final 3 starts; 11.2 IP, 19R, 5.89 ERA, 7 BB, 12K, and went 0-3. He then proceeded to give up 6 runs over 4.1 innings in the ALDS, after the Sox gave him a three run lead to work with.

Stuff be dammed, the guy couldn't be counted on to perform under pressure. Kenny realized that, and moved on. One his few good moves after the '06 season.

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And after dummy Ozzie kept pitching him on short rest.




It was a disaster of a move by any unemotional objective standard. The next season Vazquez was 15-10 with a 2.87 ERA (143 ERA+) for Atlanta and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting. The Sox got Brent Lillibridge, Tyler Flowers, Jon Gilmore and Santos Rodriguez. And they had to give up Boone Logan too. Just fucking brutal.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Not shocking that a guy would improve going to the National League pitching for a 3rd place team.

Every pitcher was going on short rest because the Sox needed every game they could get. In 14 second half starts, Vazquez went 5-9 with a 4.7 ERA. He had two starts on short rest in 2008, and went 4-8 with 5+ days rest.

Innings eater, and low pressure innings at that.

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He had those flashes of brilliance that Warren Newson mentions above, though. He was frustrating as hell. And he couldn't win in 2006 for a still-good Sox team when they needed a strong start. Couldn't pitch down the stretch in 2008 either. Like Quintana, he wasn't good when you really, really needed him to be.

I read something once that it was all mental with him. He lost confidence in his two-seamer or something.

Edit: Oh, shit. Frank basically said what I said. Sorry, Frank.

Low-pressure is right with this guy. Forget about 2004....any pressure with the Sox and he blew.

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That's why he bounced around as much as he did.

Javy definitely had better "stuff", but him and Q were remarkably similar, in that they were unremarkable pitchers. In fact, being able to get Cease and Eloy for Q is ten times better than anything either guy did on the mound

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"Kerry Wood has a personal service contract sitting in the top drawer of Tom Ricketts desk."

This was one of his first forays into creating news and when he wasn't slapped down at all by his bosses for doing it, even though the Cubs specifically came out and denied it, then it was the beginning of the fake source era.

Vastly under rated.

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He had some downright gross lies about Patrick Kane and the whole year long "important radio" talking about Penn State was a disaster.

When I hear the term "innings eater" always think of the fourth or fifth starter that can give you 20 plus starts or right around 200 innings, these guys end up around .500 on a winning team, guys like Ted Lilly or Mike Morgan. They usually give you five innings per start which saves your bullpen a bit.

Often times a managers ability to get the most out of the back end of his starting rotation is key in helping to alleviate the wear and tear on his bullpen. A veteran number 4 or 5 starter who is crafty enough to get through a lineup a few times while keeping the game somewhat close or an
"innings eater" is the type of guy a winning team will sign if they expect to contend, you can always trade the guy if you fall out of contention late in the season to a contender as a bullpen arm.

I basically stopped listening to the station during the Penn State era and only tuned back in once Mac came back.

Frankly I resent Dan for wasting the last bit of Terry's productive career with that B.S. day after day after day after day after day.

Sorry Danny, you are not a real journalist and you are never going to get that credit / respect / award you crave from the smart people doing low paid smart journalism.