Vince Velasquez Is Hurt

After just two pitches on Wednesday, Vince Velasquez had to be removed. Sometimes, when a pitcher gets injured, you don’t really see the symptoms. Maybe there’s a little wiggling of the arm, or stretching of the shoulder. With Velasquez, it was immediately apparent something was wrong. The first pitch he threw:

That’s a fastball, at 86. The second pitch he threw:

That’s a fastball, at 87, and while Velasquez got the out, it was also the end of his outing. He didn’t seem to protest too much when he was visited on the mound, or when he was removed, and we already have some early word on the issue.

Phillies say Vince Velasquez left the game with right biceps soreness.

— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) June 8, 2016

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For a little extra detail:

There were concerns about Velasquez’s shoulder when trade was made last December. https://t.co/o8AUtT3cHx

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) June 8, 2016

Nobody knows yet exactly what this means, though I might as well point out the Dodgers put Yimi Garcia on the DL with right biceps soreness toward the end of April. He’s out indefinitely, having been moved from the 15-day DL to the 60-day variety. Sometimes biceps soreness can be nothing, but other times, it can indicate a major complication, and you never want to see a power pitcher working eight ticks below where he usually is. Especially a power pitcher with Velasquez’s own injury history.

He’s already undergone Tommy John once, and his list of historical injuries is longer than that. This has always been the one big downside, the one reason Velasquez was ever available in a trade in the first place. For as long as Velasquez has been throwing, no one has doubted the quality of his stuff. But the Astros were unconvinced he could keep himself healthy, and the Phillies assumed the risk. When Velasquez is able to throw like he did against San Diego, the Phillies look like geniuses, but this is the coldest splash of cold water. It’s always been about health, and now Velasquez isn’t healthy.

With luck, he’ll be healthy again soon. In the best-case scenario, Velasquez requires just a little rest, and to be realistic the Phillies were going to have to limit his innings this season anyway. There’s a way for this to work out for everyone. Yet there’s definitely nothing good about a pitcher needing to be removed, and for now, the Phillies are holding their breath. Velasquez has provided an enormous reason to believe the team might be close to returning to relevance. He’s been one of the bright spots, and for as long as Velasquez is sidelined, the rebuild is a little off-track. Baseball continues to occasionally be a real son of a bitch.