I agree, Tony Vasquez doesn't have a lot of stuff. That's okay...if he can hit the mark with his pitches, think his way through at-bats, and otherwise survive as a #5 starter.
We have two classes of pitcher heading for Spring Training with a chance at the bigs next year: The Pitchability arms and the Stuff arms.
The Stuff arms are Paxton and Hultzen. The Pitchability arms are Beavan, Erasmo, Carraway, and Vasquez.
The tweener is Furbush, so I'm curious to see what we do with him.
But right now I wouldn't be surprised to see ALL the pitchability arms get a shot at a start through the end of the year with September callups.
It'd familiarize the coaching staff with all the options for the #5 slot in the rotation, and it thanks them for doing a good job, as you said. It's a public acknowledgement of the fact that Vasquez (for instance) has ascended 5 levels of pro ball in 2 years with good success, so they gave him a start at his 6th level.
By 2013 I would think the Ms have Paxton and Hultzen both fitted for teal...but injuries happen, and there are 5 spots to fill.
Right NOW the rotation of Felix / Hultzen / Pineda / Paxton / Vargas looks fabulous in the mind's eye, but Vargas is a FA after 2013 and guys do get sore elbows from time to time.
Carraway, Erasmo, Beavan and Vasquez - and maybe Furbush - are trying to crack the rotation or at least be on standby in case anything untoward happens to our "preferred" rotation of Stuff Pitchers (and Vargas). Same thing Pineiro and Franklin were trying to do when our Stuff Pitchers named Meche and Anderson were Option A to come out of the minors and lead us to the playoffs.
I love our current Option A, but calling up Vasquez and the rest is giving the staff and the FO an early preview of Option B so that in the middle of a tight division race next year they can make the right call. Every little bit of info helps.
And player rewards are good for the psyche too. ;)
~G
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