Phillies: Vince Velasquez not the right mechanic at all

The Phillies eternal quest for playoff status ran into problems in Miami.

Going into the finale of a seven-game series with the Miami Marlins, the Philadelphia Phillies turned hopeful eyes to their de facto sixth starter, Vince Velasquez. This was not ideal, as is indicated by Velasquez’ position in – or rather, outside – the team’s rotation.

The start would be the righthander’s fourth in only seven appearances for the season. The Phillies had lost four of their six against Miami after things began to fall apart Sept. 9 with a clothing mishap that befell co-ace Zack Wheeler. That problem left Wheeler with a badly damaged fingernail on his pitching hand.

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Velasquez’ start Sept. 14 would have been Wheeler’s. The only comment on Wheeler’s damaged nail after Sept. 12 as of game time on the 14th came from those sarcastic crickets.

That silence matched the cone of silence about MRIs J.T. Realmuto and Rhys Hoskins had done Monday morning, which represented the third and fourth pieces to come off the Philliesmobile since Sept. 9.

Both those players suffered seemingly minor injuries to a hip and a hand, respectively, Sept. 12 after starter Spencer Howard was removed from Philly’s 12-6 win. This contest will surely take the trophy for the most ironic Phillies win in 2020.

On Sept. 13 this happened at catcher and first base for the Phillies as they dropped both ends of a COVID double-header: Three different Phillies posted a 0-for-7 performance that left four runners on base, and drove in one. Three walks were accumulated between the two positions, but no runs scored.

Would Velasquez be able to duct tape the other loose parts on the P-mobile into place and drive the team to the lofty heights of two games over .500? Would either Realmuto or Hoskins be in the lineup?

The answer about Realmuto came about an hour before game time. His replacement for the day would be 21-year-old Rafael Marchand.  About 40 minutes before the 4:10 p.m. game start, Inquirer.com reported Hoskins would join Realmuto on the bench for the day.

Against young Pablo Lopez, Andrew McCutchen staked Velasquez to a 1-0 lead with a homer to center in the first.

Then, surprisingly, the NBC Sports Philly broadcast team informed viewers that Marchand was calling Velasquez’ pitches – surprising for even a highly regarded defensive prospect. The youngster had only played 22 games above the low-A level. He started by helping induce three balls hit into the middle of the field that were caught in the air with reasonable ease.

Velasquez allowed the Fish to tie the score one in the second. Soon after that, Marchand was charged with a throwing error that didn’t, ultimately, worsen the situation. In the following half-inning, he collected his first MLB hit, a soft liner to center, but the Phillies failed to score.

Then, the left rear wheel on the Phillies junker started to wobble as Miami took a 3-1 lead with a bloop and two hard-hit balls before Velasquez got an out. So, he struck out three in a row.

This is how you build a 27-34 lifetime record.

At the end of six innings, the score was Miami 5, Philadelphia 1, and Velasquez was gone. The wheel wasn’t wobbling any worse, was it?

COVID-recovered patient Scott Kingery homered in the top of the eighth to raise his BA above the .123 he had walking into the batter’s box. The Philliesmobile was still moving.

In the end, the Phillies fell to .500 with about two weeks to go in the season. It was the point they entered play Sept. 1. It was also an old story.

Things had not quite fallen apart. The final score was 6-2. Realmuto and Hoskins would probably return.