Phillies right-hander Vincent Velasquez exited his Wednesday start against the Cubs (CHC-PHI GameTracker) with an apparent injury after just one out and two pitches. Velasquez walked off the mound accompanied by a trainer. The gun readings on those two pitches also weren't promising:
Vince Velasquez just pulled from the game after throwing two 87 mph fastballs. Uh-oh.
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) June 8, 2016
The Phillies announced soon after Velasquez's departure that he was suffering from biceps soreness:
Vince Velasquez left the game with "right biceps soreness."
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) June 8, 2016
Velasquez, who just turned 24, has pitched to a 3.65 ERA this season with 73 strikeouts and 22 walks in 12 starts, counting Wednesday's. However, he's struggled of late, allowing 12 runs on 22 hits over his last three starts/13 innings coming into his start against the Cubs.
As well, this chart by Brooks Baseball shows that his velocity tracked down a bit in his last outing ...
The Phillies acquired Velasquez this past offseason as a major part of the Ken Giles trade with the Astros. Needless to say, Velasquez is an important part of their ongoing rebuild, and a serious injury to him would be unfortunate in the extreme.
