Last night the Phillies continued their six-game road trip against
reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers. The
high-scoring, back-and-forth affair produced ten total runs in what would go
on to be a 6-4 victory for the Phils. Although the offensive eruption on
display was certainly encouraging, it was the bullpen debut for right-hander
Vince Velasquez that stole the show in my opinion.
While this wasn’t technically the first time we’ve seen Velasquez serve
as a reliever, as he made a one-inning appearance earlier this season, this is
the first time we’ve seen him come out of the bullpen since being stripped of
his title as a starter. When speaking with the media, Velasquez was adamant
that he fully intended on making his return to the starting rotation.
“I know there’s a lot of talk, but that’s my spot,” Velasquez said. “I
believe that 100 percent.”
Unfortunately for the hard-throwing righty, Phils manager Gabe Kapler
wasn’t as enthused about his chances of being the fifth starter.
“I don’t see it as a right,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I see it as if it’s
what’s best for the Phillies that he come back and rejoin the rotation, then
he will. And if what’s best for the Phillies is for Jerad Eickhoff and Cole Irvin
to continue to take down starts and utilize Vinny in some other fashion,
that’s what we’ll do. We’ll always put the best interests of the organization
first..”
It remains to be seen whether or not Velasquez will earn his role in the
rotation back or be forced to get comfortable in a new role out of the ‘pen,
but I’m leaning towards the latter. I’ve been very vocal about why I think
making Velasquez a reliever makes perfect sense for the Phils for a number
of years, and after his impressive bullpen debut against the Brewers, that
sentiment has since grown.
Taking the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning with the score tied
at 4-4, Velasquez didn’t catch much of a break to begin his new role. The
California native faced none other than reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich and
former NL MVP Ryan Braun to start the inning. Talk about sink or swim.
After walking Yelich, Braun subsequently laced a single up the gut in a
hit-and-run, placing runners on first and third with no outs. Despite being in
an incredibly strenuous situation and in danger of surrendering the lead,
Velasquez remained incredibly cool under pressure.
The young righty recorded back-to-back punchouts, getting both Mike
Moustakas and Yasmani Grandal on 97 mph heaters up and in on the hands,
preventing either runner from advancing. This was exactly the type of
bounce back the Phils needed at that moment and highlighted exactly what
could make Velasquez such a valuable weapon out of the bullpen.
Batters simply can’t catch up to his fastball, especially after becoming
acclimated to much slower versions of the pitch from the Phillies’ starters
earlier in ballgames. Without the burden of having to manage his pitch
count, Velasquez was able to cut loose and exhibit the velocity that got him
to the majors to begin with.
After closing out the fifth without surrendering a run and recording a
pair of strikeouts, it was more of the same for Velasquez in the sixth inning.
The hard-throwing righty retired Brewers 1B Eric Thames on a groundout to
lead off the inning before striking out the final two batters he faced on- you
guessed it- fastballs up in the zone.
Though this was technically only a debut of sorts for Velasquez out of the ‘pen, the Phils have to be incredibly encouraged about his prospects of sticking and thriving in that role moving forward. Velasquez has always been a strikeout pitcher, but his inability to maintain a moderate pitch count was always going to hinder his effectiveness as a starter. As a reliever, however, Velasquez won’t have to concern himself with going deep in ball games and can focus squarely on retiring the side. Hopefully, this change in focus can lead to long-term success as a reliever.
Mandatory Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
