Vincent Velasquez Promotion Just as Big as Carlos Correa’s

In the wake of the promotion of the decade in Carlos Correa, the Houston Astros managed to slyly promote another of their top prospects as well. Vincent Velasquez has made the jump from Double-A to the Major Leagues, following in the footsteps of Lance McCullers and Michael Feliz before him.

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Vincent Velasquez is a hard-throwing right-hander who was taken in the second round of the 2010 draft. He has largely lived up to expectations in his steady rise to the majors. Despite a major injury that caused a hiccup in his ascent, Vincent Velasquez got back on track quickly and at 23 years of age, now finds himself with a shot to cement himself in the starting rotation of a playoff-bound Houston Astros.

As the fourth overall prospect in a stout Astros’s system, the righty was in the midst of a monster season. He had pitched 26.1 innings in Double-A, striking out a whopping 37, walking 9 and giving up 15 hits (via Astros.com).

Vincent Velasquez will step into the rotation spot vacated by Roberto Hernandez, who, despite starting well for the Astros, has fallen to 2-5 with a 5.00+ ERA. He was unable to avoid the enormous innings and it cost him, as he’ll now move to the bullpen to make way for the next big thing in Houston.

What makes this move just as big as Correa’s is that the Astros were in dire need of starting pitching, even moreso than they were in need of a consistent shortstop/third baseman. The Astros had two and a half solid starters with McHugh’s fall from grace being the half, and that just isn’t enough to give your team a chance at the playoffs. Vincent Velasquez will look to fix that.

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These are big times for the Astros. It seems like just last year Astros’ fans were begging for the future to come, to be competitive again. All of a sudden, three of the top five prospects are up at the big league level playing on a club that’s anchored by Jose Altuve, George Springer and even Preston Tucker, all of whom rose out of the Astros’ farm system.

When Vincent Velasquez steps into the starting rotation, he’ll become the fourth of five starters that had to work their way through the Astros system. Alongside ace Dallas Keuchel, hotshot Lance McCullers and crafty lefty Brett Oberholtzer, the Astros are proving they can get it done without spending big and buying all the biggest names on the market. Granted they did make some key off-season acquisitions, it’s safe to say that the Astros would be doing pretty well with just products from their own system.

Vincent Velasquez will take the mound against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, June 10th for his debut start in the majors. If he can mimic anything along the lines of what Lance McCullers is doing, then the Houston Astros are in good shape for years to come.

Next: Ladies and Gentlemen, Carlos Correa