The Phillies have finally done it. They have designated Vince Velasquez for assignment, per Corey Seidman.
This moment has been years in the making. Vinny Velo, who has bounced around different roles during this time in the big leagues, has not stood out for longer than four innings at a time.
Vince’s Phillies Journey
After being drafted by Houston in 2010, Velasquez quickly rose up the prospect ranks, even reaching as high as the #75 best MLB prospect by Baseball Prospectus. In 2015, he was traded by the Houston Astros with Mark Appel (minors), Harold Arauz (minors), Thomas Eshelman, and Brett Oberholtzer to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jonathan Arauz and Ken Giles. And thus, the saga began.
The right-hander made his Phillies debut in 2016 and flashed early signs of greatness. In only his second start for Philadelphia, he threw a 16 strikeout, complete-game shutout, only allowing three hits. This inaugural season with the Phillies would end up being his best in terms of ERA, as he had a 4.12 average. Things would only go downhill from here.
Vince would then find himself moving constantly throughout the Phillies rotation, finding himself between #2 and #5 depending on the week. He was tried in a closer role, middle reliever role, and even tried being the set-up guy. Nothing seemed to work for Velasquez.
In 2021, Vinny Velo made 21 appearances (17 starts) en route to a 5.85 ERA. Back at the beginning of August, he was placed on the IL with a blister right after allowing five runs in two innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 30.
This start was symbolic of his tenure with the Phillies, putting just a fitting, yet sad ending to his tenure with Philadelphia. I wish Vinny the best of luck with his career, but wow, this was a LONG time coming.
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
