This just in via LoHud:
Ivan Nova will start on Sunday. Javier Vazquez will move to the bullpen. Vazquez will be available in relief beginning tomorrow.
It’s a great call by the Yankees as far as I’m concerned. Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal outlined Vazquez’s season beautifully into three distinct segments: awful-great-awful. And it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll be climbing out of his latest hole. I gave up on him almost two weeks ago.
Nova, on the other hand, looked very sharp last night against a powerful Blue Jays lineup. He featured a live fastball, a biting breaking ball and a darting changeup, at times. According to the LoHud article, Joe Girardi hasn’t made any plans past this Sunday, but Jack Curry of YES did some reporting of his own:
Some Yankee officials envision a scenario where Nova stays in rotation 4 rest of season. Remember, Hughes has innings limit.
This makes perfect sense to me. Vazquez has clearly lost his spot in the playoff rotation. Why not let a respectable prospect fill in and gain valuable major league experience? If he performs well, the Yankees will be able to sell him at a much higher price if they choose to this offseason.
