The Velasquez Experiment Has Run its Course
It’s time. Actually, it’s been time for quite a while now. But Monday night’s performance proved – in more ways than one – that the Vince Velasquez experiment has to come to an end.
Before diving into Monday’s game, let’s look at his season to date. His counting stats aren’t terrible this year. He’s 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA, a 1.35 WHIP, and 32 strikeouts. But all Phillies fans know that he’ll quickly inch closer to his career ERA of 4.54 as the season progresses.
He’s a home-run-allowing machine, already having let up seven in 30.1 innings in 2019, raising his total home runs allowed to 64 for his career. It feels like he’s always one pitch away from the other team putting up a crooked number, most likely courtesy of the long ball.
The issue is management and the front office seem to be obsessed with the potential of Velasquez’s arm. He struck out 16 in a game against the Padres in April of 2016, and ever since then it would appear that the Phillies view that as the true Vince Velasquez. Well, guess what? He has not been able to replicate that performance since then. That’s not the true Vince Velasquez. The true Vince Velasquez is the guy who is maddeningly inconsistent, shows flashes of brilliance, but in the end can’t keep the ball in the park and allows a lot of runs, as a result.
So let’s circle back to Monday. In two separate plate appearances, Velasquez shook off catcher J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto called for a two-seam fastball or breaking ball against Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong. Velasquez opted to go with his four-seamer both times, and lo and behold, a home run was the result of both pitches.
Realmuto has been pretty vocal about Velasquez not listening to him. Realmuto addressed it with Velasquez, and gave Velasquez credit for owning it.
“I should do a better job of trusting J.T. back there. He does a great job of studying guys, knowing what works.”
He also admitted to relying on his fastball too much, and that he needs “to learn how to balance and use the other pitches to throw guys off.” But here’s the thing – he won’t learn. He’s been in the league for four full seasons, and he’s been the same pitcher all four seasons. If you don’t know how to balance your pitch selection at this point in your career, guess what, you don’t belong in a major league rotation.
Realmuto is the best catcher in baseball. He studies the game, opposing batters, and knows what to throw in every situation to have the best chance of getting them out. Only elite pitchers should shake him off occasionally, and Velasquez is not an elite pitcher.
So, what to do about it?
Velasquez needs to move to the bullpen, a move that would be a huge upgrade not only for the team but for him, as well. His stubbornness in throwing his fastball, inability to pitch deep into games and flashes of brilliance make him perfect as a reliever. The move will also shore up a bullpen that hasn’t quite lived up to expectations so far this season, and put Vince in a better position to succeed.
And there are plenty of options to replace him in the rotation. If Nick Pivetta fixes his issues in the minors, the Phillies could bring him back up and take Vince’s spot. Though, of course, that’s merely swapping one inconsistent pitcher for another.
The better internal options to replace him are either Enyel de los Santos or Ranger Suarez. Both have made starts with the Phillies in the past, and in the case of de los Santos, there is a lot of optimism. This could be a short-term solution until the Phillies make a move at the trade deadline, which they almost certainly will.
Madison Bumgarner is a name the Phillies have been linked to all offseason long, and as the summer heats up, so will the talks between the clubs. Another player to keep your eye on is Indians ace Trevor Bauer. If Cleveland falls out of the AL Central race by mid-July, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them dangle Bauer out there and try and get a nice return for him.
Whatever they do, anything is better than running Velasquez out there every fifth day.
Photo: via Twitter (@phillyinformer)
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