Javier Vazquez wasn't just the best pitcher on the Braves, but he was one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball, in 2009.

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Quick, name the only starting pitcher in the NL East who never once pitched under five innings per start, over 30+ starts and 200+ innings, in 2009?

Overall, Javier Vazquez is one of five total pitchers in all of Major League Baseball (Grienke, Haren, Shields, Wainwright) to achieve this feat.  Regardless of the wins and losses, there's something to be said about a pitcher who comes out consistently, does his job, and does it well.  Really well.

I'm going to go out on a short limb here, and declare Javier Vazquez the Ace of the already outstanding Braves pitching staff.  Now the definition of what an ace is, is often under debate, but in general, most people can agree on the following criteria:

• Starts a lot of games
• Wins a lot of games
• Eats a lot of innings
• Good ERA
• Stops the bleeding
• Doesn't walk a lot of guys
• Strikeouts preferable
  

All this considered, Javier Vazquez accomplished the following:

• 32 starts is second on the team, behind the 34 starts made by both Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrjens.
• 15 wins is tied with Derek Lowe for most wins on the team.
• His 219.2 innings pitched is the best on the Braves, best in the entire NL East, 4th best in the National League, and 11th best in all of baseball.
• Vazquez's stellar 2.89 ERA is second, behind Jair Jurrjens's even more stingy 2.60 ERA.
• Javier Vazquez made 17 starts in 2009, following a Braves loss.  The Braves went 12-5 in those games, and 8-0 in their last eight Javy starts following a loss.
• 44 walks makes Javier Vazquez the most efficient pitcher on the staff; he walked fewer than even Tommy Hanson in 90 more innings and 11 more starts.  Only four other pitchers in the 200-innings-pitched club, ML-wide walked fewer guys than Vazquez did.  His 1.81 walks-per-nine is third best in all of baseball.
• 238 strikeouts makes Javy the best punch-out artist on the team, as well as the NL East, second best in all of the National League, and fourth best in all of baseball.  He also sported a fancy 9.77 strikeouts-per-nine, which was third best in the National League, and fifth overall in the Majors.
• Javier Vazquez pitched three complete games this season alone, which is as many as the Braves had in 2007 and 2008 combined.  Yes, one of them was an eight-inning complete game loss, but so was Jorge Campillo's in 2008.
• And just to throw this out there, Javy led the majors with 20 sacrifice bunts.

So the bottom line is that Javier Vazquez wasn't just the best pitcher on the Braves in 2009, but he was most certainly one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball.  The National League Cy Young will in all likelihood go to Tim Lincecum again, or maybe even Adam Wainwright, or Chris Carpenter, but I'll be grossly disappointed if Javy doesn't receive some Cy Young consideration himself.  In the three Triple Crown categories that the BBWAA weighs heavily, when making their choices, Javier Vazquez is T-4th in wins, 6th in ERA, and 2nd in strikeouts.

I'm sure you're all aware of the negative stigma attached to Javy, about being not being able to hold up under the pressure of a critical game, and he certainly didn't help his cause with his final start of 2009, and I know baseball is no exception to the "what have you done for me lately" mentality that many sports fans harbor, and that pitchers are only as good as their last performance, but what a lot of people need to realize is that without Javier Vazquez, the Braves might never have been in a situation where there were critical games to be played.  The four starts prior to his final, Javy pitched brilliantly, tossing 32 masterful innings, notching both his complete game victories, and allowing a paltry three earned runs.  In a stretch where the Braves needed every victory to remain alive in the playoff hunt, who says Javier Vazquez couldn't handle pressure?

Honestly, there's not a whole lot much to ask for from Javier Vazquez, going into 2010.  He's going to make a lot of starts, strike out a lot of guys, and eat a lot of innings - stuff we all knew he was capable in 2009 before he even threw a pitch with the Braves.  Win more games?  Take that request up with the offense, whom in Javy's ten losses, contributed a meager average of 1.3 runs of support in his losing starts.

Maybe, we could ask for him to sign some sort of extention to stay in Atlanta?  As it stands right now, he's entering the final year of a three-year deal that sees him making $11,500,000 in 2010, which is an incredibly fair cost for a pitcher of Javy's caliber.  Obviously, this much bang for the buck has not gone unnoticed by the baseball world, as Vazquez has been the topic of many a fantasy trade, that sees the Braves dealing their current ace pitcher, due to the luxury surplus of quality starting pitching in their current staff, for a potential package of prospects and/or the mythical "big bat" that will assist the Braves back into the glory days.  All I'm saying is that I'd prefer to keep Vazquez through 2010, and potentially beyond, but I wouldn't be the least bit opposed to keep my ears peeled and entertain some offers to hear what's up.

Would it be possible to sign Javy to some sort of extension?  Possibly.  He has made statements expressing desire to stay in Atlanta, and many bring up the idea that he is opposed to going out to the west coast again, thus limiting the number of teams he could go to down a bit.  But one thing to think about is how much of the Braves' money do you want tied up in starting pitching alone?  Say the Braves extend Vazquez, but aren't capable of moving any of their starting pitchers - Derek Lowe is on the books for three more years, Kenshin Kawakami for two more, and if the supposed rumors come true, Tim Hudson for three.  In 2011, Jair Jurrjens is eligible for arbitration.  It goes without saying that in order to extend Vazquez, someone will have to be moved in order to have a chance of keeping the finances under somewhat control.  Unless Liberty Media decides to actually open up the books a bit, which I'm sure is not going to happen.

So for better or worse, we're just going to have to assume that Javier Vazquez is going to be suiting up for the Braves come the start of the 2010 season.  I expect more of the same from 2009, but there also stands the possibility that the "honeymoon period" of moving back to the NL after a long tenure in the AL helped his numbers, which I don't necessarily agree with fully, because he should have gotten worse as the year progressed, not better, like Javy's did.  Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing more Javier Vazquez in 2010, and I wouldn't rule out the possibility that he might just be the Opening Day starter, for the Atlanta Braves.