Vince Velasquez is clearly still a work in progress for Phillies
By Dan Parzych
Just when it seemed like Vince Velasquez was turning things around for the Philadelphia Phillies, it appears the pitcher is still a work in progress.
A few years ago, Vince Velasquez seemed to be a pitcher with a ton of potential for the Philadelphia Phillies, and become a reliable member of the rotation.
Unfortunately, it’s been a pretty bumpy ride at times for Velasquez over the last three seasons, and with Gape Kapler recently making the decision to use his pitcher in the bullpen, there seemed to be some hope moving forward.
On May 24, Velasquez came up big for the Phillies to help them pull off a 6-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers by pitching two strong innings while striking out four batters in the process, and only allowing one hit.
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Obviously, one game wasn’t going to determine what the rest of the season held for Velasquez since he still had plenty to prove in regards to being a valuable part of the team.
As Phillies fans saw a few days ago on Sunday, Velasquez put together a disaster of a performance by allowing four runs and five hits against the Brewers in less than one inning of action.
Sure, the game had already gone south for Philadelphia since this just happened to be one of those days in which they weren’t on top of their game, but also this was the last thing they expected from Velasquez in his follow up performance from the bullpen.
Just like most players in his situation would be, Velasquez clearly wasn’t thrilled over the idea at first this weekend that Nick Pivetta would be starting instead of him on Tuesday with the St. Louis Cardinals in town.
It would be one thing if Velasquez had built himself a strong case to earn the starting bid in the series opener against the Cardinals, but Sunday made it clear that he is still far from the level Philadelphia needs him to be.
Velasquez may not want to hear it, but finding success as a member of the bullpen may be his only chance to prove himself worthy of being a valuable member of this roster, and time is running out to do so.
Philadelphia may be comfortable being on top of the NL East at the moment, but even they know there’s still plenty of time remaining in the 2019 season, and the team will need all of the extra help possible from players like Velasquez.
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Otherwise, the Phillies could be lining themselves up for another disappointing finish to the regular season, so here’s to hoping that Philadelphia can find a way to help bring out the best from Velasquez before it’s too late.