Kalk considered this particularly impressive considering his arm angle noting that "normally pitchers who have a very low release point sacrifice speed and vertical movement for horizontal movement." Kalk went on to note that Vázquez's fastball averaged nine inches of vertical movement "thanks to an exceptionally high spin rate on his fastball." He also threw a "tight" slider which averaged 83 mph and "a big breaking curve-ball" which averaged 74 mph. His curveball was thought to be especially difficult to hit; in 2004, Sandy Alomar Jr. called it the "best breaking ball I've seen; Bert Blyleven doesn't throw it better [...] you don't know where it's going to land. He changes speeds with the breaking ball. He throws it hard. He throws it at you. He knows how to set you up." Kalk called it a "slurvy curve with huge horizontal movement and little vertical drop" noting that he "can add and subtract from a pitch that can like anything from one of his better sliders to a 65 mph beast with massive horizontal and vertical movement." Poet Carson Cistulli once wrote that "Javier Vázquez's curvepiece makes me a Better Man" He featured two types of changeups: "one that darts like a cutter and one that resembles a screwball". Kalk noted an 11 mph difference between his fastball and changeup, FanGraphs a 10.5 mph average for his career (90.9 mph compared to 80.4 mph). Fastball velocity Baseball writer Dave Cameron writes in his piece "Javier Vázquez's Fastball Is Probably Not Coming Back" that beginning in 2010, Vazquez's fastball dropped from 91 mph to 89 mph and that "given his career workload, I wouldn’t bet on Vazquez's fastball ever coming back." In May, 2011, the Miami Herald noted that while Vázquez's velocity had been down, "now it is registering in the low 90s. When one fastball snapped his glove Friday, Buck said he glanced up at the reading on the Dodger Stadium scoreboard and saw 94." In June 2011, Joe Frisaro confirmed that his velocity had "increased" and that Vazquez's fastball was topping out "at a season-high 94 mph". This was statistically confirmed in September by Eric Seidman: "from June 11 until now, Vazquez threw his fastball 53 percent of the time, and the pitch averaged 91.1 mph, right in line with his career". Post-baseball career Vázquez was hired as an international special assistant to Major League Baseball Players Association executive