The Boston Red Sox need to trim the fat of their roster if they want to contend this year. After his latest outing, Hector Velazquez should be on the list.
The Red Sox are currently 5 games off of the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays and it should be less. The Sox have suffered back to back losses to the Astros that has killed the momentum they had coming into the series. With the heartbreaking loss on Friday night and an embarrassment of a game on Saturday, it’s time to re-evaluate the roster.
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Hector Velazquez has been bumped from the bullpen to the starting rotation due to the injuries to David Price and Nathan Eovaldi. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to step up and give the Red Sox the chances they need. With Price set to return on Monday Velazquez is surely be moved back to the bullpen, but in my eyes, that isn’t enough.
Velazquez has been with the Red Sox since he signed as a free agent in February of 2017. In both 2017 and 2018, he posted some good numbers finishing with 3-1 and 7-2 records respectively. He also had a decent pair of ERA’s going into the 2019 campaign at 2.92 and 3.18.
But 2019 hasn’t been even a ghost of his past efforts as he’s racked up a 5.53 ERA and is already half-way to his 2018 run total in just 1/3 of the IP. Last night against the Astros is something that the Red Sox need to look at very closely. Hector didn’t make it out of the first inning, not only did he not get out of the inning but he also only recorded 1 out before getting the hook.
He would see batter after batter smack his pitches or cruise to first on a walk and eventually come around to score. He would get the ownership of the 5 runs that Houston scored in the first while only getting a single out. That just isn’t acceptable. And this is just more of the same for a season that has been poor for Velazquez.
If they want to have any bit of a chance Boston need to trim the fat and do it now. We’ve seen in the past that Velazquez can be an asset to the team and can get the job done, but that’s the past. He hasn’t shown any of that capability in 2019 and it’s hurting the team. With more reliable arms in the pen like Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, and Marcus Walden, Velazquez will see himself as an odd man out.
So then what do the Red Sox do with him? Can they use his past successes and try to hide his current struggles and put him on the trade market? It’s a possibility but they’d have to do some series selling to make him appealing to other teams.
Could he get DFA’d and placed on waivers? Absolutely and we’ve seen the Red Sox do this more than once already this season. Velazquez is on the books for only $568,500 for this season, so that won’t hurt the budget too badly.
Could they send him back down to the minors to see if he can regain his confidence? I think so and this is the most likely of the scenarios as it is the path of least resistance. Let him go back to Pawtucket and work the kinks out of his system.
The positive in this for the Red Sox is that Velazquez isn’t one of their big earners so if they had to bite the bullet and eat the expenditure it wouldn’t break the bank. Is it an ideal scenario? Not at all, but if it frees up a spot for someone that can contribute then I’m all for it. At this point, he’s doing more harm than good when he’s on the mound.
In the blink of an eye, the season can be salvaged or lost at sea forever but the time to act is now. It’s much easier to stop a leak when you first notice it rather than ignore it and try to bail the water out once you’re sinking. I think Velazquez can be a good pitcher again and this may just be a slump, but with Boston having zero room for error, there isn’t the luxury of time to find out.