PHOENIX — Felipe Vazquez had never seen Ray Searage so upset. Vazquez, standing on the mound at Chase Field, snickered while talking to Francisco Cervelli during a mound visit earlier in the ninth inning Wednesday afternoon. Not this time, though.
Not with two on, no one out and the Pirates clinging to a three-run lead.
"He went from joking around to, ‘Oh (shoot), this guy is mad,’ " Searage told DKPittsburghSports.com. " 'You’re damn right I’m mad! These guys worked their asses off to get the lead, and you’re the one who’s supposed to hold it! Get outs! You don’t have to strike out everybody! Get outs!' "
Four batters later, Jon Jay laced a line drive over Colin Moran's head for a two-out, two-run double. Then, with the bases loaded, Vazquez struck out Jake Lamb to clinch a 5-4 win, as the Pirates avoided a series sweep. It took 36 pitches and three mound visits but Vazquez earned his 12th save of the season.
Vazquez, mired in a four-week-long slump, had blown four of his six previous save opportunities, one of which was the result of the Cardinals discovering he was tipping his pitches. Vazquez thinks he and Searage found a solution to that problem. But another familiar one popped up in what's been a disappointing second season as the Pirates' closer.
"I have to do the work," Vazquez said Tuesday afternoon. "I’ve been tipping my pitches, and I have to go back to who I was last year. That’s my focus. I want to be the same guy I was last year."
Vazquez's struggles might seem sudden since he allowed only one earned run in 18 innings from April 1 to May 17, but there were signs of trouble in spring training. Here's a quick timeline of what's gone wrong:
• March 15: Vazquez walked three batters and allowed four runs, none of which were earned, while throwing only two of 14 pitches for strikes in a Grapefruit League game against the Yankees.
• March 16: The 26-year-old lefty threw one inning in a minor-league game to try to fix a flaw in his delivery.
• March 30: Vazquez blew a save in the season opener at Comerica Park in Detroit, walking three batters and allowing three earned runs.
• May 17: The Padres scored four runs on four hits and Vazquez failed to record an out to blow another save. The Pirates have the worst record in the National League since.
• May 31: Vazquez was tagged for five earned runs in the bottom of the ninth in St. Louis, including a walk-off three-run homer by Yairo Muñoz, and admitted to reporters one day later he was tipping his pitches.
Vazquez doesn't watch video to study opponents. Searage made him watch the blown save against the Cardinals, particularly what Vazquez was doing on the mound against each batter. When preparing to throw a fastball, Vazquez would hold his hands higher before delivering the pitch. But he would keep them lower when throwing offspeed pitches.
The Cardinals caught on. They aren't the only ones, though. Vazquez had been tipping his pitches that way for almost a year, and Searage repeatedly tried to get him to fix the problem. Opponents still couldn't hit Vazquez. He had a 1.67 ERA and 0.88 WHIP with 88 strikeouts, 20 walks and 21 saves in 2017.
"Now they know," he said with a laugh. "I have to change it. Ray told me I was doing it last year, but I didn’t care because I was doing good. They finally caught on to it this year. I’m working on it. I’m feeling better and more comfortable with that. What can I say? I can just laugh about it. There’s computers and a lot of stuff going on."
Searage is done allowing Vazquez to determine his pregame routine. He's ordered Vazquez to perform shadow work, where a pitcher repeats his delivery while using a towel instead of a ball. Searage has used the technique for each of the Pirates' starting pitchers, yet Vazquez had never done the drill work before.
So, during the Pirates' three-game series at Wrigley Field last weekend, Vazquez took the first bus to the ballpark to work with bullpen catcher Heberto Andrade. The drill was to serve two purposes: fix his habit of tipping pitches and a mechanical flaw where he speeds up his delivery, causing his pitches to sail to the arm side.
"He’s still inexperienced," Searage said. "He’s still learning about himself. Last year it was just, 'OK, everything is hunky dory,' but now he didn’t know how to fix anything if anything went wrong. Right now, it’s, ‘Oh (shoot), what am I going to do?’"
Vazquez has also shied away from attacking the strike zone. Instead, he tries to nibble at the corners to attempt to strike out every batter he faces, including his near-blown save against the Diamondbacks. His strategy is having a reverse effect. He has a 1.57 WHIP with 30 strikeouts and 15 walks in 26 2/3 innings.
Vazquez has allowed 27 hits and 69 percent of his inherited runners have scored. He's also been slow to adjust when hitters make adjustments, which contributed to Searage's anger. Now, Searage will continue to monitor Vazquez's daily shadow work while reminding him to use the strategy that made him so successful last season.
"I challenged him out there," Searage said. "Attack the zone. It doesn’t matter what pitch you throw. ... Everything is sailing off, sailing off. Make an adjustment. You have 36 pitches underneath your belt already and finally you figured it out? You can’t do that."
• Jameson Taillon didn't say a word to Austin Meadows after Meadows dropped a fly ball that turned into a two-run home run Wednesday. The only teammate to speak to Meadows about the gaffe: Sean Rodriguez. — Lysowski
• A few Pirates pitchers I spoke with think it's funny how some media members tweet about how they should all change their pitching arsenals to resemble that of Gerrit Cole. Cole is throwing more four-seam fastballs high in the zone, as well as more curveballs and fewer two-seam fastballs. It's a little more complex than which pitches he's throwing, as Joe Musgrove explained to me: "There is a science to it at some point, but Gerrit has really good stuff. He hides the ball really well, his direction of his delivery is really repeatable. Those are all little things that people count out." — Lysowski
• I reported earlier in the week that Cervelli and Josh Harrison would be the two most likely to be traded, with Jordy Mercer right behind, if the Pirates keep plunging and the front office finishes off the selloff that began over the winter. Since then, another source -- this one outside the organization but with knowledge -- affirmed that ... emphatically. The reasons were affirmed, too: Cervelli ($10.5 million) and J-Hay ($10 million) are the highest-paid, and Mercer ($6.75 million) is a pending free agent. Get a good look at these guys because, given the team's trajectory of late, they won't be around long. — Dejan Kovacevic
STEELERS
• T.J. Watt played more than 900 snaps last season when preseason and special teams snaps are counted. That's a lot. The Steelers want to take some of that off his plate, with special teams and preseason snaps being key spots where they can get that number down. "He was good last year. He had a really good rookie season, but he was thinking a lot and doing all of the special teams," outside linebackers coach Joey Porter said. "Now, put him out there, take some of the special teams off his plate, allow him to be fresh all the time. I’m expecting him to do better than he did." Just because the Steelers are taking some things off his plate, however, doesn't mean Watt still isn't working hard. Thursday, after everyone else had left the field following the team's final minicamp practice, Watt remained on the field, hitting a tackling sled. — Dale Lolley
• As I've previously mentioned, the Steelers are very cognizant of where they put players in the locker room. One I didn't notice the first day in the locker room but did later was the fact that Vance McDonald is now right next to Ben Roethlisberger. McDonald joined the team just before last season began after being acquired in a trade with San Francisco and was given a locker in the middle of the offensive linemen because that was what was open. Now, he's in the locker Watt had next to Roethlisberger -- about 10 or so spots down from his old spot. Watt, meanwhile, has moved to the other side of the room. He's tucked in next to Anthony Chickillo and Artie Burns. It's obvious the Steelers want McDonald and Roethlisberger to bond so the tight end can become a bigger part of the offense. It wouldn't surprise me if he's the player who replaces Martavis Bryant's 50 catches from last season. — Lolley
• The Steelers have not reopened negotiations with Le'Veon Bell on a contract extension just yet and won't until they get Terrell Edmunds' deal done. That should be coming soon. Then, it will be time to focus on Bell. We'll see if a deal gets done and, truthfully, nobody knows if it will happen by the July 16th deadline. The Steelers and Bell's agent both thought they had an agreement last year only to have the running back shoot it down. But one thing that did happen this year is that James Conner made it through the entire offseason program healthy, something he didn't do last year. And he looked quicker thanks to the pounds he lost as he prepped for this season. The Steelers still aren't sure if he can get through a season healthy, but they feel better about him now than they did a year ago at this time. — Lolley
• The Steelers have had live tackling in training camp since Bell's rookie season in 2013. And Mike Tomlin sprung it on everyone, not even telling Kevin Colbert of his plan for live tackling drills -- which very few teams do in today's NFL. They plan on ramping that up even more at camp this year. And they aren't hiding that fact. Defensive coordinator Keith Butler and new secondary coach Tom Bradley both mentioned this week the defense will be going live more at this year's camp. — Lolley
• Ramon Foster would love an extension, and he knows the Steelers' precedent is that it'll have to happen soon or not at all. With minicamp done, there'll soon be a month-long lull where coaches, players, even team execs and agents across the NFL basically shut down for business. It's kind of a silent agreement, a last chance to rest before training camp. So Foster, who's yet to hear from the Steelers, almost surely would need at least an approach in the next couple weeks, as he acknowledged to me this week. Is it coming? Well, time will tell. He's 32, and B.J. Finney, his backup is six years younger and undoubtedly would cost a whole lot less. — Kovacevic
PENGUINS
• Based on my conversations within the organization since the Penguins were eliminated, expect to see more roster/lineup emphasis on which side a player's most comfortable. This might surprise some, as Mike Sullivan's long declared that sort of thing unimportant, but I'm told that thinking's shifting. Maybe that's from Rutherford, maybe it's broader, but that part I haven't heard. Bottom line: Expect it to affect, for example, Bryan Rust, who'd be one of four right-handed right wingers, along with Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist and Daniel Sprong. Old thought process: Rust switches sides. New thought process, maybe: Rust gets traded. — Kovacevic
• I spoke to Jim Rutherford on Thursday for some stories you'll be reading next week leading up to the NHL Draft in Dallas. As usual, the general manager had quite a few points that he wanted to get across. Most interestingly, he said that he doesn't expect to be particularly active at the start of free agency on July 1. That doesn't mean that he won't sign a UFA but it would seem there has to be mutual desire for the player to want to come to Pittsburgh. -- Chris Bradford
• Rutherford had no update on negotiations with Rust, who is in line for a long-term extension. The versatile Rust posted 38 points (13 goals, 25 assists) in 69 games last season while making $640,000. -- Bradford
• Rust headlines a group of RFAs, including Jamie Oleksiak, Riley Sheahan, Tom Kuhnhackl, Sprong, and Tristan Jarry that Rutherford said he expects to extend qualifying offers to. Though the NHL has yet to announce what the 2018-19 salary cap ceiling will be, Rutherford said that he expects to be up against it when that group is re-signed. -- Bradford
PITT
• Pat Narduzzi was pleased with the NCAA’s change to football’s redshirt rules, which now allow a player to participate in up to four games and still receive a redshirt year. He expressed his support for the change during spring practices, and when it became official Wednesday, Pitt released a statement in which Narduzzi touted the benefits for both injured players and for young players to remain engaged by seeing game action with no penalty. Also during spring, he talked about other rule-change proposals that didn’t go into effect, including some that would allow waiving or eliminating completely the year that players who transfer must sit out. Narduzzi said a change like that would be nice for “selfish” reasons — specifically, making talented wide receiver Taysir Mack eligible for this season — but that he didn’t feel it would be good for college football. — Matt Grubba
• What might be one of the football team's busiest weekends of the summer for visits actually got rolling Wednesday with defensive end/outside linebacker Dontay Hunter II, a player rated by various services as a three- or four-star prospect, coming from Ohio to tour the campus. The Panthers are expected to host more than a dozen more recruits on official visits over the weekend — including a handful from Florida and Alabama, according to 247 Sports. — Grubba
• Pitt hoops grad Brad Wanamaker added to his trophy case this week by being named Finals MVP while leading Fenerbahçe to the Turkish BSL title with a 4-1 series win over Tofas Bursa. Wanamaker averaged 16.4 points per game in the series, which secured another domestic championship on the heels of Fenerbahçe falling in the European final against Real Madrid. Whether a return to the U.S. is in Wanamaker’s future is unknown, but ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla said earlier this season that, “in the right situation, (Wanamaker) could play in the NBA.” — Grubba
HOUNDS
• While an official injury report won’t come out until later Friday, center back Joe Greenspan is expected to return to the lineup, either in a starting or bench role, this Saturday against the New York Red Bulls II. Greenspan, the Hounds' opening-day starter, played just two matches before suffering a calf injury against Penn FC on March 31. Along with adding depth to the back line, the return of 6-foot-6 Greenspan gives the Hounds an added weapon in the air on set pieces and when defending. — Grubba
