Turns out Leones fans are voracious when it comes to PEBA news, and fully attuned to the PEBA media empire. The PEBA podcast is the most popular media form on the island. Fans regularly get together to discuss and dissect each episode with long arguments approaching the academic. Imagine the buzz storm set off when, in the most recent podcast, there was some wonder as to why Havana's top hurler, Enrique Vázquez, didn't see more playoff starts in the recently concluded 2029 campaign?
Dear reader, we the fans of Havana will share a dirty little secret with you. Our favorite Leone is really a paper tiger. Please, please hear us out and you will understand our view. Also you must understand that we view this as a temporary condition, one day 'Old Nick' will roar we promise you.
Our story begins in the 2028 PEBA playoffs. We'd had a good run. Trouble for us was Scottish were having an even better one. They pressed the Leones hard and we just barely managed to keep the division title from their tartan stained hands. Yet like a castle ghost they kept coming back and now they had us. It was the playoffs and Scottish had roared back from two game series deficit to being on top three games to two. Game six was a must win for Havana and we had 'Old Nick' ready for the start. That was a problem.
Vázquez had been struggling a bit recently. Memories are a bit fuzzy on this next point, after all we don't use the internet that much, (rum! cigars! Caribbean! Remember?) we had Thomas or was it Sherwin also available and he'd shut down the powerfull Claymores in his last start. The club opted for the sure thing and started Thomas-Sherwin for game six and slotted Våzquez for the decisive game seven if we should make it. Well, we won game six and then Våzquez folded like, well, like a paper tiger frankly. It certainly was shocking and the numbers bear it out:
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CAREER PITCHING STATS
Year W L WHIP
2024 0 0 1.50
2025 13 7 1.37
2026 7 9 1.31
2027 19 1 0.89
2028 18 4 0.93
CAREER POSTSEASON PITCHING STATS
Year W L WHIP
2025 1 0 1.42
2026 1 2 0.91
2027 0 2 0.92
2028 0 1 1.50The club was concerned. 'Old Nick' was stumbling again late in the year. Here's how the staff looked over the last seven to eight starts for each pitcher:
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pre playoffs GS W L IP H R ER BB K WHIP K/BB
Vazquez 7 2 4 42.6 33 18 14 14 41 1.10 2.93
Thomas 7 3 1 38.6 40 10 8 2 32 1.09 16.00
Ashley 7 5 1 42.7 37 14 12 14 41 1.19 2.93
Lopez 8 5 2 54.6 41 18 17 16 51 1.04 3.19Here's a fun game. You be the GM!
What would your rotation have been? We'll give a moment before showing how it turned out.Here's how the series played out:
Game 1 WIN, 5-3 @ WV - Havana wins, Vázquez gets no decision
Game 2 WIN, 6-1 @ WV - Thomas lays down another marker Havana's up 2-0
Game 3 LOSS, 2-8 vs WV - West Virginia bounces back beating Ashley
Game 4 WIN, 5-4 vs WV - Juan Lopez wins a nail biter series now 3-1
Game 5 LOSS, 2-8 vs WV - Sherwin routed after 2.2 innings series 3-2
Game 6 WIN, 4-1 @ WV - Våzquez gets the win to advance the club
At this point things look ok. Våzquez is holding his own with some good support from Thomas and Lopez. Some fans note that Vazquez could have started Game 5. Given the 2028 performance and no decision in Game 1 the club felt like it was better to take its chances with Sherwin and a well rested Vázquez available for a potential Game 6 or Game 7 in the divisional series. Even though we lacked firm confidence in his post-season performances so far we felt we'd live or die with our number one and give him the best opportunity for success. He had to break through if we were going to have a shot at the Cup.
The next series, against Kentucky started well enough then ... well .. PEBA ... what can you do?
Game 1 WIN, 2-1 vs KEN - Glenn Thomas wins a close one
Game 2 WIN, 4-1 vs KEN - Ashley back on top. So far so good...
Game 3 WIN, 7-1 @ KEN - Sherwin with a solid performance
Game 4 LOSS, 1-4 @ KEN - Vázquez' post season troubles return
Game 5 LOSS, 1-6 @ KEN - Kentucky peppers Lopez for the W
Game 6 LOSS, 0-1 vs KEN - Thomas spins a good game gets no run support
Game 7 LOSS, 3-11 vs KEN - Ashley gets rocked
Would a two Vázquez fuly rested starts have made the difference? His post season history gives one pause.
Would Vázquez on four days rest have been better than a fully rested Kenny Ashley? After Game two it seems Ashley would have been a better choice.
Thats why they play the games, and that's why they talk about them all winter long.
Well here's how they ended up for the 2029 post season:
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playoffs GS W L IP H R ER BB K WHIP K/BB
Vazquez 3 1 1 21.2 22 7 6 7 14 1.37 2.00
Thomas 3 2 1 20.0 13 2 2 2 12 0.75 6.00
Ashley 3 1 2 17.3 21 9 8 1 11 1.27 11.00
Lopez 2 0 1 12.2 8 7 7 7 8 1.23 1.14
Now to be fair to 'Old Nick' it's not quite true that 'he's good enough to get you to the playoffs but not to get you through the playoffs'. He will likely improve, after all he's only 27 years old. But when fans look at the opportunities lost, and the expectations set by his regular season numbers, you can understand why some may call him 'Paper Tiger'
