Virgil Vasquez #32

Virgil Matt Vasquez...Is a 2000 graduate of Santa Barbara (CA) High School, where he went 11-2 with a 1.87 ERA and 58 strikeouts during his junior season; also hit .406 with eight home runs and 39 RBI...Posted a 12-1 record, 121 K's and a 2.08 ERA as a senior while hitting .440...Played three seasons (2001-03) of baseball at the University of California-Santa Barbara...Led staff in starts (16), innings pitched (99.1) and strikeouts (66) as a sophomore...Finished career with 189 strikeouts, the eighth-highest total in school history.

2009

Split season between Triple-A Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, where he set career highs in every category...Began season with Indy and pitched 5.0 scoreless innings in first start on 4/13 vs. Columbus (no-decision)...Suffered loss in second outing on 4/18 at Louisville (6.0ip/4er)...Picked up first win with Indy in fourth start on 4/28 at Louisville...Struck out season-high eight batters in loss at Rochester on 5/14...Pitched season-high 8.0 innings (1r) in victory vs. Syracuse on 5/19...Gave up season-high seven runs in no-decision (5.0ip) vs. Norfolk on 6/11...Tossed 7.0-inning complete game in the first game of a doubleheader on 6/17 vs. Gwinnett...Was removed from his start on 6/17 after pitching just 1.0 inning due to his impending promotion to Pittsburgh...Went 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA (38.0ip/14er) and 20 strikeouts in previous seven Triple-A starts before being recalled by Pirates on 6/26...Made first start with Pittsburgh on 6/26 vs. Kansas City and picked up first Major League win after limiting Royals to a pair of runs in 6.0 innings of work; also whiffed career-high seven batters (was his first appearance in a big league game since 9/28/07 and his first start since 8/31/07)...Suffered 4-1 loss in second start on 7/1 vs. Chicago Cubs (6.0ip/3er)...Also lost next start on 7/6 at Houston (6.0ip/4er)...Gave up five runs, including a grand slam to Pedro Feliz, in the 1st inning at Philadelphia on 7/12 and pitched 1.1 innings in 5-2 loss...Received zero runs of support and lost back-to-back starts on 7/21 vs. Milwaukee (6.2ip/2er) and 7/26 at Arizona (3.0ip/4er)...Lost five straight decisions from 7/1-26...Snapped losing streak with an 11-6 victory vs. Washington on 8/1...Was optioned to Indianapolis following his start on 8/1...Won first two starts upon his return to Indy, giving him five straight wins there from 5/19 thru 8/12...Lost back-to-back starts on 8/17 at Louisville (6.0ip/5er) and 8/22 vs. Louisville (7.0ip/3r/1er)...Made final start with Indianapolis on 8/27 and received a no-decision at Toledo (2.0ip/1er)...Was recalled by Pirates on 9/1 when rosters were expanded and tossed an inning of relief that night at Cincinnati; surrendered two-run homer to Wladimir Balentien and struck out two batters...Pitched 3.0 innings and gave up one run against the Cubs on 9/8...Retired all three Cincinnati batters he faced on 9/22...Gave up three runs (two earned) in 1.0ip on 9/23 vs. Cincinnati...Allowed a solo homer to Ronnie Belliard while pitching 1.2 innings on 9/26 vs. Los Angeles...Did not give up a run in his last two games with Pittsburgh (3.0ip)...Made first seven appearances with the Pirates as a starter and his last seven in relief.

2008

Spent entire season with Toledo (Tigers' AAA)...Shared International League lead in shutouts and tied for fourth in complete games...Received a decision in 24 of his team-high 27 starts...Also led staff in innings pitched...Picked up victory and whiffed eight batters in first start on 4/3 vs. Durham (5.2ip/1er)...Suffered back-to-back losses on 4/14 and 4/19 and lost four of his five decisions from 4/14 thru 5/16...Tossed 7.0 scoreless innings while winning third game on 5/23 vs. Louisville...Surrendered season-high 12 hits in loss on 5/28 vs. Buffalo...Won back-to-back starts on 6/19 and 6/24...Suffered five straight losses from 6/29 thru 7/27...Surrendered four home runs and six runs in 2.1ip on 7/27 vs. Pawtucket...Gave up just two hits and no runs in 7.0ip while winning seventh decision on 8/1 at Indianapolis...Suffered final loss on 8/6 at Louisville...Ended season with a five-game winning streak and went 6-1 in his last seven starts...Surrendered four hits while tossing first shutout on 8/11 vs. Norwich...Struck out season-high 10 batters while tossing five-hit shutout in final start on 9/1 at Columbus.

2007

Sixth in the International League with a 3.48 ERA with Triple A Toledo, before receiving his first major league action with the Tigers...Third in the International League with 127 strikeouts, tied for third with 12 wins and tied for fourth with 155.0 innings pitched...surrendered 18 home runs with the Mud Hens, tied for fourth-most in the league...Won seven straight decisions with the Mud Hens April 16-June 3 -- tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in the International League...Fanned a season-high 10 batters on April 21 at Durham...Tabbed the International League Pitcher of the Week for April 16-22 -- won both of his starts during the week, fanning 19 batters as he held the opposition scoreless on seven hits in 11.0 innings of work...Posted a 3-2 record and 3.21 ERA (28.0IP/10ER) in five starts during April -- tied for second in the International League with 34 strikeouts during the month, while he tied for for third with three wins...Recalled by the Tigers from Toledo on May 13 -- made his major league debut that night at Minnesota and took the loss after allowing six runs in 2.2 innings...optioned back to Toledo following the game...Selected the International League Pitcher of the Week for May 28-June 3, marking the second time he earned the honor -- posted a 2.25 ERA (12.0IP/3ER) and 13 strikeouts as he won both of his starts during the week...Fifth in the International League with 33 strikeouts during May...Fired a five-hit shutout on July 17 at Norfolk...tossed a two-hit shutout on August 21 versus Indianapolis -- tied for the International League lead with two shutouts...Made a second spot start for the Tigers in the night game of a day-night doubleheader after being recalled from Toledo prior to the game on July 24 at U.S. Cellular Field against the White Sox -- fanned a career-high four batters as he allowed two runs in five innings...optioned back to Triple A following the game...Third among all International League pitchers with a 1.27 ERA (28.1IP/4ER) in four starts during July...Earned International League Pitcher of the Week honors for the third time August 20-26 -- first to win three weekly honors in the International League since both Fernando Seguignol of Columbus and Josh Hancock of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre did so in 2003...won both of his starts during the week, compiling a 0.56 ERA (16.0IP/1ER)...Posted a 2-2 record and 2.67 ERA (33.2IP/10ER) in five starts during August -- 12th in the International League with a 2.67 ERA during the month...Recalled by the Tigers from Toledo for the remainder of the season on August 30...Worked a career-high 4.1 innings of relief on September 9 versus Seattle.

2006

Finished 10th in the Eastern League with a 3.73 ERA for Double A Erie...Led the league with 20 hit batsmen, while he tied for the lead with three complete games, finished second with 173.2 innings pitched, third with 21 home runs allowed, tied for third with 27 games started and tied for fourth with 12 losses...Dropped six of his seven decisions during an 11-start stretch May 29-July 26...Went the distance in three straight starts for the SeaWolves: August 18 versus Connecticut, August 23 at Trenton and August 30 versus Trenton in the first game of a doubleheader...Fanned a season-best 10 batters on September 4 against Akron...Combined to post a 3-2 record and 2.58 ERA (52.1IP/15ER) in seven starts between August and September -- fanned 43 batters, while holding opposition to a .230 batting average (43x187) in the seven starts...Limited righthanded batters in the Eastern League to a .243 batting average (82x337)...lefties batted .288 (92x320) with Vasquez on the mound...Promoted to Triple A Toledo on September 8 -- made one appearance for the Mud Hens during the International League playoffs, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief...Named the 24th-best prospect in the Tigers organization following the season by Baseball America.