Vincent John Velasquez ( ; born June 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Kansas City Royals organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Cubs and in the KBO League for the Lotte Giants.
Born in Montclair, California, Velasquez was a multi-sport athlete at Garey High School in Pomona. After bone spurs in his right elbow kept him from pitching and playing shortstop, he learned how to field left-handed. A growth spurt prior to his senior year of high school caused him to draw interest from the soccer and gridiron football teams, but Velasquez opted to focus on baseball on the advice of a scout for the Chicago White Sox. The Astros selected him in the second round of the 2010 MLB draft, and Velasquez chose to pitch for them rather than honor his commitment to play college baseball as a shortstop for Cal State Fullerton. He was assigned to the Greeneville Astros in 2010, but underwent Tommy John surgery later that year and did not return to the field until 2012. He had a successful season with the Quad Cities River Bandits in 2013, but struggles during a three-game stretch with the Lancaster JetHawks inspired him to sharpen his curveball. The following year, he helped take the JetHawks to a California League championship title.
Velasquez made his major league debut in 2015, replacing Roberto Hernández in the starting rotation after the latter was moved to the bullpen. Velasquez played one season with the Astros before he was traded to the Phillies as part of a major trade that brought Ken Giles to Houston. He had a strong debut for the team, striking out 25 batters in his first two games, but the next few seasons were hindered by injury, including a season-ending finger injury in 2017. By 2020, Velasquez's inconsistent performance had placed his role on the Phillies roster in question, and he took advantage of the MLB's pause to diversify his pitch repertoire and improve his efficacy against batters. Since then, he has alternated between starting games and relief appearances, depending on the needs of the team. The Phillies released him in September 2021 and he finished the season with the Padres before signing with the White Sox before the 2022 season.
Early life Velasquez was born on June 7, 1992, in Montclair, California. His father Leonard worked as a package delivery driver for the United Parcel Service (UPS), though he sometimes worked four jobs at once to provide for Velasquez and his brothers. Vince's mother Juanita, meanwhile, worked as a hospital billing supervisor. In addition to playing as a shortstop and pitcher for the Garey High School baseball team in Pomona, California, Velasquez served as the quarterback for the school gridiron football team. As a sophomore, Velasquez developed bone spurs in his right elbow, which made it impossible to pitch or play in the infield. Inspired by the story of Billy Wagner, who became a left-handed pitcher after breaking his right arm as a child, Velasquez became a center fielder and learned how to throw left-handed. Between his junior and senior season, Velasquez underwent a growth spurt that took him from to , and the school soccer team expressed interest in making him a center midfielder. A scout for the Chicago White Sox dissuaded Velasquez from pursuing other sports, warning him that an injury in football or soccer would compromise his baseball career.
As a junior in 2009, Velasquez was named the Garey High School Most Valuable Player. On the mound, he posted a 6–1 win–loss record, with a 1.89 earned run average (ERA); at the plate, he batted .608 with 14 doubles, 29 runs batted in (RBIs), and 18 stolen bases. Velasquez pitched his first complete game on May 21, 2010, against the San Dimas High School Saints, the reigning California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern Section division champions. He struck out 17 batters in the 9–1 victory, striking out every batter he faced at least once, and held the Saints to three hits, two walks, and one unearned run. Less than a week later, Velasquez was named to the 2010 Inland Valley High School All-Star game.
Professional career Houston Astros Minor leagues The Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Velasquez in the second round, 58th overall, of the 2010 MLB draft. At the time, he had already committed to play college baseball as a shortstop for Cal State Fullerton, but he chose to sign with the Astros after the team indicated that they would prefer him as a pitcher. Velasquez signed with the team on June 22, 2010, the day after his high school graduation, and was assigned to the Rookie Greeneville Astros of the Appalachian League. Velasquez pitched in eight games during his rookie season, including six starts. He posted a 2–2 record and a 3.07 ERA in Greeneville, striking out 25 batters in innings pitched.
Velasquez underwent Tommy John surgery in 2010, citing "overuse". He contemplated abandoning baseball after the injury, but was encouraged to continue by his father. Velasquez reported to spring training early in 2011, building up the strength to throw . He missed the 2011 Minor League Baseball season entirely, instead practicing in bullpen sessions and in the Astros' instructional league. Velasquez regained his pitch velocity quickly after the surgery. His fastball speed jumped from to , but it took him the season to regain control. He was assigned to the Low–A Tri-City ValleyCats in 2012, with the Astros believing that a shorter season would help Velasquez ease back into pitching. He started nine games that season, posting a 4–1 record and a 3.35 ERA while striking out 51 batters in innings.
After spending the offseason building his strength and working on improving his strikeout-to-walk ratio, Velasquez began the 2013 season with the Single–A Quad Cities River Bandits. His preseason work proved successful; in his first 75 innings, Velasquez led the Midwest League with 88 strikeouts. By the time that he was promoted to the High–A Lancaster JetHawks that August, Velasquez had posted a 9–4 record with a 3.19 ERA at Quad Cities, while his 123 strikeouts in 110 innings were good enough for a league-leading 10.06 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Velasquez stumbled in his promotion to Lancaster, however, going 0–2 with a 6.14 ERA in his three starts. He realized that, at higher levels of baseball, simply having a strong fastball was insufficient to strike out batters, and he spent the offseason working on a curveball to supplement his primary pitch.
Going into the 2014 season, Baseball America ranked Velasquez as the sixth-highest prospect in the Astros' farm system. He returned to Lancaster to start the season as part of an eight-man rotation that alternated between starting games and pitching in relief. Although Velasquez missed two months of the season with a groin injury, 2014 proved to be a breakout season for him. He started seven games and appeared 12 times in relief, posting a 4.37 ERA in the process. Velasquez also helped take Lancaster to the California League playoffs. Their performance in the first half of the season led to a bye for the first playoff round before they went on to sweep the Inland Empire 66ers in the South Division finals. Velasquez pitched in Game 1 of the South Division series, allowing only two hits in six innings of a 7–3 victory. He went on to start Game 3 of the championship series against the Visalia Rawhide, earning a no decision in the Jethawks' 5–4 walk-off home run win. Lancaster went on to take the California League title, their second championship in their 19-year history.
Following the 2014 season, Velasquez played in the Arizona Fall League with the Salt River Rafters. After giving up four hits and three runs in one inning, Velasquez left his final scheduled start of the season with a strained latissimus dorsi muscle. He went 2–1 with the team, with a 4.85 ERA and 12 strikeouts.
Major leagues Prior to the 2015 season, Velasquez was promoted to the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. There, he went 3–0 with a 1.37 ERA in his first five starts, striking out 37 batters and allowing 15 hits in innings. Meanwhile, veteran starting pitcher Roberto Hernández disappointed for the Astros, going 2–5 with a 5.18 ERA in his first 11 starts. On June 8, 2015, the Astros moved Hernández to the bullpen and called up Velasquez to take his place in the rotation. He made his major league debut on June 10, pitching five shutout innings against the Chicago White Sox before the bullpen gave up three home runs, leading the Astros to a 4–1 loss. With the acquisition of Scott Kazmir in July, the Astros moved Velasquez to the bullpen, where the shorter innings requirement improved his velocity and focus on the mound. Velasquez played in 19 games with the Astros as a rookie in 2015, starting seven games and finishing five. He posted a 1–1 record for the season, with a 4.37 ERA and 58 strikeouts in innings.
Philadelphia Phillies 2016 On December 9, 2015, Velasquez was part of a massive trade with the Philadelphia Phillies. Velasquez and fellow pitchers Mark Appel, Thomas Eshelman, Harold Arauz, and Brett Oberholtzer, were sent to Philadelphia in exchange for prospect Jonathan Arauz and closer Ken Giles. It was Matt Klentak’s first major trade as the Phillies' general manager; he used Giles as a bargaining chip to attempt a rebuild of a struggling team.
Velasquez debuted with the Phillies on April 9, 2016, pitching six shutout innings in a 1–0 win against the New York Mets. Striking out nine batters in the process, Velasquez became the first Phillies pitcher to strike out at least that many in his team debut since Roy Halladay in 2010. He continued to impress in his following start, fanning a career-high 16 batters in a 3–0 victory over the San Diego Padres. Velasquez was only the second pitcher since 2000 to pitch a shutout game with 16 or more strikeouts and zero walks; the other, Max Scherzer, struck out 17 in a no-hitter the year prior. Striking out 25 in his first two Phillies starts, Velasquez surpassed Jim Bunning, who fanned 20 in 1964, for the franchise record.
Through his first 11 starts with the Phillies, Velasquez posted a 5–2 record with a 3.67 ERA. His strong performance came to a halt on June 8, when Velasquez abruptly left after two pitches in a game against the Chicago Cubs with a strained right biceps. Velasquez was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 10, returning to the active roster 17 days later on June 27. In his final start of 2016, Velasquez allowed three runs, two earned, in seven innings against the Atlanta Braves. The Phillies shut Velasquez down for the season on September 4, after the pitcher threw a career-high 131 innings of work in 24 starts. He went 8–6 for his rookie season, with a 4.12 ERA and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.
2017 Velasquez was named to the Phillies' 2017 opening day roster as the fourth starter in a five-man rotation with Jeremy Hellickson, Jerad Eickhoff, Clay Buchholz, and Aaron Nola. In his first start of the season, Velasquez struck out 10 batters in four innings, becoming the first Phillies player of the modern era to record a double-digit number of strikeouts in four or fewer innings pitched, and the first starter to strike out 10 or more batters in the first four innings of a game since Cole Hamels in 2006. However, he had to be taken out after throwing 94 pitches in those four innings, including 25 in the first inning alone, and the Phillies ultimately lost to the Washington Nationals 7–6.