Following big decision, Phillies answer tough questions surrounding Vince Velasquez

With the Philadelphia Phillies in need of a starter Tuesday night, Vince Velasquez will remain in the bullpen while Nick Pivetta will get the start.

Everyone has heard the rumblings, including Vince Velasquez himself, that the Philadelphia Phillies right-hander may be best suited to pitch out of the bullpen.

Following a stint on the injured list, Velasquez was activated Friday nigh,t but was not thrilled with what he was told following his activation.

Manager Gabe Kapler told Velasquez that he would be in the bullpen Friday night and available to pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers. Velasquez did not take to that too kindly, but did warm up to the idea following a later conversation with the Phillies skipper.

Turns out, Velasquez was needed right away on Friday night, entering the game in the fifth inning. Starter Jerad Eickhoff underwhelmed, giving up four runs in only three innings. Edgar Garcia quickly silenced the Brewers bats in the fourth inning, and then the keys to the fifth inning were handed to Velasquez.

In a game that was the Phillies 15th in a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, Philadelphia needed a couple of quality innings from Velasquez.

The bullpen had been used extensively to help secure a split against the Chicago Cubs, and the Phillies couldn’t afford to burn out arms this early in the first game of a series.

The inning didn’t start off too well for Velazquez, surrendering a walk to Christian Yelich, followed by a single by Ryan Braun that advanced Yelich to third base.

In the blink of an eye, there were runners on the corners with no outs in what was a 4-4 game at that point.

Following that, Velasquez buckled down. He got Mike Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal to both go down swinging on three pitches. Then with two outs, JT Realmuto and Jean Segura ran to success the old first-and-third play that is often practiced, but rarely used in games.

Just like that, the Phillies and Velasquez got out of the inning. A run in the top of the sixth gave the Phillies the lead, and then Velasquez pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning, striking out two more batters.

Two innings, four strikeouts and no runs given up. A pretty impressive outing for Velasquez, right?

A large segment of the fan base has longed for Velasquez to be moved to the bullpen and that argument continued to gain traction of Friday night. In fact, it looks like Velasquez’s strong outing has given the Phillies a reason to keep him in the bullpen.

Following the demotion of Cole Irvin back to AAA Lehigh Valley, the Phillies were in need of a starter for Tuesday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was made clear it would not be Irvin as Kapler was on the record saying it will either be Velasquez or since demoted Nick Pivetta.

Since being sent back down to AAA, Pivetta is 4-1 with a 3.41 ERA over six starts and most recently received “International League Pitcher of the Week Honors.”

Now, a newly confident Pivetta will reclaim a spot in the starting rotation.

The Phillies will now get to see more out of Velasquez in the bullpen, and that will give Pivetta the start. It is a risk for sure, but one that may pay off in the long-run for both Pivetta and Velasquez.

It looks like bullpen Velasquez may officially become a thing. The next question is can Pivetta build off his Triple-A success and have that “breakout year” everyone had hoped for?

The only thing we know for sure is that the Phillies will have a very short leash with their hot-and-cold pitchers as they look to continue their contention well into the summer.