Signed out of the Mexican League, the Boston Red Sox are taking a chance on the 28-year-old right-handed pitcher.
Hector Velazquez has never pitched in the major leagues, or in the United States for that matter, but the Red Sox are giving him a chance anyways. More than a week after the club announced that he had signed on a minor-league deal, he made his Spring Training debut in their 7-3 loss to the lowly Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.
The Red Sox featured a less-than-stellar lineup in their first travel game of the spring, playing down to their level of competition.They sent out a lot of depth players and minor league pieces that just couldn’t hold it together against the Rays. Aside from Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley, Brock Holt and Blake Swihart were the only players in the lineup that had a solid chance at major league playing time this year.
While Velazquez will probably spend the majority (if not all) of the season at AAA Pawtucket, he’s still an intriguing case. While most players his age are a proven commodity at this point in the season, Velazquez has never pitched on American soil and is thus unpredictable. From a stats standpoint, he’s a good match for the club.
We don’t know too much about the 28-year-old other than that he’s pitched well in the Mexican League. For his career, he has a 3.76 ERA, with 528 strikeouts in 687.1 innings pitched. He excelled especially well last season, with a 2.95 ERA, 120 strikeouts, 16 walks, and 131.1 innings pitched in 22 starts. In 15 of those starts, he allowed just two earned runs or fewer.
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His start on Sunday was his first taste of pro-ball in the United States and with a big league club. The Red Sox handed him the ball to start the game, giving him a two-inning leash. In the first inning, he induced a pair of groundouts, followed by a single, and strikeout to end it. Not a bad start by any means.
His second inning didn’t go as well. He gave up a leadoff double and RBI single to the first two batters, then struck out three and walked one to end the frame. His final line read: 2 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K.
Velazquez featured a fastball that sat between 88-90 mph, split-change, slider, and cutter on Sunday. He threw 31 pitches in his short debut, 21 of which were strikes.
Given the circumstances, his debut wasn’t necessarily disappointing, but it didn’t make anyone look twice. Velazquez was, in all aspects, just ok on Sunday. He didn’t struggle with command or fall victim to the long ball, but he also failed to hold a mediocre Rays Spring Training lineup off the board. In front of six Red Sox front office execs, including president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and assistant general manager Eddie Romero, he didn’t do much to hurt or help his cause.
Manager John Farrell had this to say, via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald, following his start.
"“A very efficient delivery. Repeatable. He threw strikes. There was decent depth to his cutter, slider. But he looked very comfortable on the mound for just joining camp and getting on the mound in a game setting in roughly three weeks. So he’s got the benefit of winter ball on his side right now. But I thought it was a good two-inning look for him.”"
As spring goes on Velazquez will get more reps and time to acclimate himself to this level of baseball. He’s a lock to start the year at AAA, but given the Red Sox depth issues at the back of their rotation, he could provide some value down the line for the big league club. He’s not an ace but he is serviceable, and an asset the Red Sox desperately need. With a clean slate of minor league options, Velazquez could find himself making multiple trips from Pawtucket to Boston during the regular season.
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The top-three in their rotation is a lock, but with injury troubles among their final three candidates and slim pickings in AAA, Velazquez could be an important factor for the club this year.