It's safe to say the Houston Astros traded away a future star in pitcher Vincent Velasquez. The right-hander, who is now with the Philadelphia Phillies, has yet to give up a run after two starts this season and tossed a complete game shutout against the San Diego Padres today.
Velasquez, 23, struck out 16 batters in a historic outing at Citizens Bank Park this afteroon. He allowed just three hits and threw 113 pitches over nine innings, joining an elite list of starters in his 21st career MLB game.
Pitchers in MLB history with 16 K, 0 BB, 0 R, 3 or fewer hits:
Vince Velasquez today. Scherzer, Kluber, Santana, Clemens, Wood. Thats it
— Corey Seidman (@CoreySeidmanCSN) April 14, 2016
He also became the fifth youngest pitcher ever to have a scoreless start with 14-plus strikeouts and no walks.
The Phillies won 3-0 behind his stunning performance. Velasquez retired the final 14 batters he faced after letting up three singles from Jabari Blash and Alexei Amarista. It was his first start at Citizens Bank Park.
Here's his final strikeout of the game:
Velasquez came over to the Phillies back in December in the deal that sent closer Ken Giles to the Astros. Houston gave up a lot in the trade for Giles, who isn't even serving as their closer after he endured a poor spring training. In this day and age, to give up young, talented and controllable starting pitching is a sin, and the Astros are perhaps begging for forgiveness.
While Giles possesses great talent as a back end reliever, it's hard to compare such similar production from a starter. Velasquez showed flashes of great potential last year with Houston, so it was a bit puzzling when they traded him away this offseason. Their starting rotation isn't exactly top of the line beyond Dallas Keuchel, and it appeared as if Velasquez was going to be a big part of their future.
However, he'll now be an integral building block for the Phillies' future. Philadelphia is in the midst of a rebuild after missing the playoffs for four straight seasons, and the organization has done a tremendous job in acquiring young talent over the past two years.
Velasquez further proved that today.
