Javier Vazquez won the NL pitcher of the month honors for September.
This is also a press release, so look for it after the break.
Florida Marlins starter Javier Vázquez has been voted the National League Pitcher of the Month for September.
In five September starts, Vázquez was a perfect 5-0, leading the National League in wins while compiling the lowest ERA (0.71) among qualifying starters. Vázquez ranked second among National Leaguers in innings pitched (38.0) and fourth in strikeouts (36) while walking just three. On September 11th, the 13-year veteran tossed 6.0 shutout innings in a 4-1 Marlins win at Pittsburgh's PNC Park to earn his 10th victory of the 2011 campaign. With the win, Vázquez became just the 35th pitcher in Major League history to record a streak of 12-or-more consecutive seasons with 10-or-more wins, and was the first to accomplish the feat since Mike Mussina's 17-season streak from 1992-2008. Vázquez tossed his first complete-game shutout of the season on September 16th at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., scattering five hits and striking out seven in 9.0 innings of work for a 3-0 victory. The Ponce, Puerto Rico native submitted another scoreless outing on September 21st, tossing 7.0 shutout innings in a 4-0 Fish victory over the visiting Braves. Vázquez extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 29.0 - a Marlins franchise record for a starting pitcher - in his final start of the year on Tuesday before allowing single runs in the fifth and sixth innings of the 3-2 Florida victory over the visiting Nationals. Vázquez finished the season with a 13-11 mark and a 3.69 ERA after posting a 10-4 record with a 2.15 ERA after the All-Star break. This is his second career monthly award, having won previously in August of 2001 as a member of the Montreal Expos.
Other pitchers receiving votes included Clayton Kershaw (4-0, 1.30 ERA, 34.2 IP, 4 BB, 36 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Roy Halladay (3-1, 1.70 ERA, 37.0 IP, 29 SO) of the N.L. East Champion Philadelphia Phillies; Madison Bumgarner (4-1, 2.01 ERA, 31.1 IP, 5 BB, 34 SO) of the San Francisco Giants; and Ian Kennedy (4-0, 2.08 ERA, 34.2 IP, 6 BB, 37 SO) and J.J. Putz (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 SV, 9.2 IP, BB, 15 SO) of the N.L. West Champion Arizona Diamondbacks.
The National League Pitcher of the Month for September, Javier Vázquez, will receive specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, to commemorate his performance.
If Javy didn't win it, they should have quit giving out the award. He was unbelievable in the final months.
He will make his decision on whether to retire or not in December, and your guess is as good as mine as whether he will or won't. But if he decides to retire, he will be leaving the game on the ultimate high. A complete game shutout, won in walk-off fashion. And then to be recognized as the best pitcher of the final month of his career. It doesn't get much better than that.
But if he wants to return, the Marlins should do everything they can to re-sign him. It is funny how things change.