Phillies Pheatured Player: Vincent Velasquez
By John Town
The Philadelphia Phillies meet the Kansas City Royals this weekend at Citizens Bank Park, and a young Phillies starting pitcher should prove a key to victory for the home squad.
When the Phillies traded for Ken Giles last winter, Vincent Velasquez was perhaps the most talented player they received in return.
With an impressive, mid-90s fastball as well as an arsenal of solid secondary pitches, Velasquez has all the present tools to be a top-tier starter.
Despite questions on whether or not Velasquez would actually make the big league roster to begin the year, the righty put those questions to rest in his debut, striking out nine and allowing no runs over six innings of work.
In his second start with the Phillies, Velasquez dazzled the Philly faithful with a complete game shutout, dominating with 16 strikeouts and allowing only three hits. Velasquez’ fastball was hitting 97 even late in that game, giving fans plenty to dream on.
As the season continues, Velasquez continues to carry solid strikeout numbers. He has a K/9 of 7.5 or higher in 10 of his 13 starts.
Velasquez strikes batters out with ease in part because he can use all of his pitches to generate whiffs. His curveball is his most whiffed-at pitch, with batters missing 31.91% of the time when they swing at his curve.
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While Velasquez uses his fastball 61% of the time, he still generates whiffs 28% of the time with it.
Velazquez has had plenty of success, but there have been some areas in which he has struggled. For example, his control is still iffy, with an 8% walk rate on the season. While some starts he has limited his walks, others have seen Velasquez struggle tp keep his pitches in the zone, with a BB/9 hitting 4.50 in multiple starts, and even 6.00 in one.
Also, Velasquez continues to wrestle with lasting deep into his starts. After the complete game shutout, Velasquez has not pitched more than six innings in any of his outings. Considering the workload the Phillies bullpen has been under this season, Velasquez certainly isn’t making their job any easier.
After leaving his start back on June 8th with biceps soreness after just two pitches, Velasquez continued to build on his “oft-injured” label. The righty has had Tommy John surgery in the past as well as several other injuries during his minor league career.
Thankfully, Velasquez returned from the disabled list without much issue in a solid start on Monday against the Diamondbacks. He struck out seven over five shutout innings, picking up his sixth win of the season. His fastball averaged 95.7 mph, hitting almost 98 in that start.
As Velasquez continues this season with the Phillies, he should look to last longer in starts and control his pitches. Meanwhile, Velasquez can continue to build on his success striking out batters with his all-around solid arsenal.