Phillies: Vince Velasquez’s poor start a cause for concern?
A bad day for Phillies starter Vince Velasquez could hint towards a major concern
After a stretch of nine spectacular games, there was little room for Phillies starter Vince Velasquez to go up. He would inevitably take a step back, which is exactly what happened in a 6-0 loss in Arizona Wednesday afternoon.
Velasquez suffered his ninth loss of the season after allowing four runs in four innings against the first place Diamondbacks. It was his worst performance in over a month following a fantastic stretch of nine games where he had a 2.14 ERA.
More concerning than the four runs allowed was Velasquez’s velocity, which dipped significantly from past performances. Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia notes Velasquez’s fastball averaged 93 miles per hour after averaging 94.2 or better in every start this year.
Philadelphia Phillies
Velasquez has a history of arm injuries, including a mild right flexor strain last year and a right biceps strain in 2016.
More notably, he’s approaching his major league career-high innings pitched, just 13.1 shy of matching his 2016 mark. Could fatigue be setting in after pitching at least six innings in six of his last nine appearances, which included a one-inning relief appearance?
With prospect Enyel De Los Santos on the 40-man roster the Phillies could skip Velasquez’s next start in favor of De Los Santos’s third major league start. The Dominican native had a solid debut against the Mets on July 10, but was roughed up by the Mets a week later.
De Los Santos made a one-inning relief appearance after Velasquez was pulled, potentially setting him up for a start.
Philadelphia sent De Los Santos back to Lehigh Valley after the game with a corresponding move to come.
Velasquez’s next projected start would be against the Red Sox at home on the 15th with two travel days sandwiching the Padres series this weekend.
Next. Ranking Every Player for the 2008 World Series. dark
It’ll be something to keep an eye on with all the Phillies young pitchers as they approach a potential playoff run. Aaron Nola is 20 innings short of his career high, while Zach Eflin has already passed his.
Nick Pivetta is slated to set his career-high for innings pitched over his next two or three appearances, while Jake Arrieta is more than 100 innings short of his career high set during a Cy Young campaign with the Cubs in 2015.