Velazquez earns chance with Red Sox
Righty from Mexico made most of time in Pawtucket
PAWTUCKET – Just who is Hector Velazquez, the 28-year-old righthander from Mexico the pitching-thin Red Sox are turning to for Thursday night’s start in Oakland?
The short answer is Velazquez, who made five starts with the Pawtucket Red Sox and thrived on deception and an unpredictable mix, gave fits to even the best International League hitters.
“Nothing seems to faze him,” PawSox manager Kevin Boles said. “When it’s his turn to pitch, he gets the job done.”
How Velazquez’s diverse repertoire that includes a two-seam and four-seam fastball that ranges between 88-93 miles per hour, a standard changeup, a changeup based on the way he grips the ball features a split-finger bite to it, a slider, and a curveball he began learning after signing with Boston on February 18, translates against big-league hitters remains to be seen.
“I never want hitters to feel that only one thing is coming,” Velazquez said through inter-preter/PawSox radio broadcaster Will Flemming. “I like to establish my fastball early in the game, then make them uncomfortable with my off-speed pitches.”
The vote of confidence given by one of the PawSox catchers who’s worked closely with him this spring tends to suggest that no matter the level of competition, Velazquez’s stuff will travel.
“He can throw all of his pitches for strikes at any point in the count,” Dan Butler said after Velazquez this past Saturday held Rochester to two runs over seven innings. “He’s not worried about this pitch or that pitch. He’s reading hitters. You can tell he’s in the game and in the moment.”
Spend some time with Velazquez and it’s clear he won’t be awed by the moment that awaits him on the Oakland Coliseum mound. The pressure of outfoxing the Athletics’ lineup pales in comparison to the former annual exercise of pitching for his next one-year contract in Mexico.
“Totally different environment. The ownership there wants to win badly. They just don’t take care of you as well as they do here,” Velazquez said. “Your contract for the following year is mostly structured on bonuses based upon pitching the most innings on the team and in the league.”
In other words, the Mexican pitching version of Velazquez had no choice but to embrace a heavy workload that by today’s Major League Baseball standards almost seems unfathomable. Depending on who you talk to within the Red Sox organization, Velazquez, between the Mexican League regular season/playoffs and the Caribbean World Series, registered 260-270 innings. By comparison, David Price last year led Boston’s staff with 230 regular-season innings while 2016 Cy Young winner Rick Porcello tossed 223 innings.
“We don’t look for guys to throw that much,” Red Sox vice president for player personnel Jared Banner said. “It was more that he was able to perform that intrigued us.”
Based on the high number of innings Velazquez recorded in 2016, the Red Sox proceeded with extreme caution once he entered the club’s fold. This past Saturday with Pawtucket saw the bubble wrap come off with his first start of the season on a normal five days’ rest schedule. He passed his biggest test to date with season high-water marks in innings (seven) and pitches (96).
“We slow-played him, appreciating what he had been through in racking up all the innings he did,” PawSox pitching coach Bob Kipper said. “Eventually, we’re going to have to ramp him up if he’s going to be considered majorleague starting depth.”
Less than three months ago in spring training, the Red Sox talked proudly about their pitching options. The plan was to build around arms like Price, Porcello, Chris Sale, Drew Pomeranz, and Steven Wright with Henry Owens, Brian Johnson, Kyle Kendrick, and Roenis Elias as fallback options in Triple-A.
Now, with game No. 40 of the 2017 season looming on Thursday, Boston is looking to Velazquez – a player who wasn’t in the fold when preseason camp commenced – to emerge as a capable fill-in, however long his services are deemed necessary. How the six-foot, 180pounder with a mere 29 innings thrown in a PawSox uniform – five walks over that span compared to 20 strikeouts and a .180 opposing batting average – has gone from a small transaction to potential help has that coming-out-of-nowhere vibe to it.
“There’s no extra pressure,” Velazquez said, “but just a touch more motivation knowing there’s something there for the taking.”
Velazquez was aware the Red Sox were scouting him during the 2017 Caribbean World Series. Banner said the organization first identified him as a priority dating back to his Summer Mexican League stint with Acereros de Monclova, for whom Velazquez compiled 131.1 innings over 22 starts and posted a 2.47 ERA. He didn’t skip a beat upon joining Mayos de Navojoa of the Mexican Winter League (2.32 ERA in 14 starts/85.1 innings).
“The scouts we had on the ground noted he stood out in several different ways. He continued to show things that they liked,” Banner said. “Watching video clips, he showed an uncanny ability to disrupt timing.”
Edgar Perez was one of the Red Sox scouts who kept close tabs on Velazquez, who joined the Mexican pro circuit in 2010 at age 21.
“What really got my attention was his poise and ability to adjust from pitch-to-pitch,” Perez wrote in an email. “One outing, he battled through the first two innings, fighting with the mound and his landing. He got in trouble a couple times but eventually found a rhythm with his delivery to go six solid innings.
“He had a lot of innings last year, but he was consistent and he was healthy,” Perez added.
When Velazquez spun 7.1 innings of shutout ball with 10 strikeouts and zero walks for Mexico in Game 2 of the Caribbean World Series on February 2, the Red Sox deemed the time was right to move in with a contract. Banner was involved in the negotiations that included a posting fee to Monclova, which held his rights.
When it came down to it, both the Red Sox and New York Yankees were involved with Velazquez. Monclova officials were anxious to wait on the Yankees because they were going to offer more money. Velazquez’s agent, Oscar Suarez, told his client the Red Sox were ready to commit while the Yankees expressed a desire to do more homework on him.
“I felt I had more of an opportunity to get to the big leagues with the Red Sox this year,” Velazquez said. “I didn’t care about the money. It was a better opportunity.”
The standard first-year minor-league deal the Red Sox signed Velazquez to could prove to be quite the bargain.
“When we put the picture together, he was an intriguing guy who we wanted to give an opportunity to,” Banner said.
Added Perez, “There’s a lot of things to like. He’s 28 with significant experience in pro baseball and has lot of desire to prove himself at the major-league level.”
Velazquez went straight from the Caribbean World Series to Red Sox spring training, where a pitching schedule that was completely foreign to him awaited. He wasn’t used to making a start, then throwing a bullpen session in preparation for the next start.
“Initially, it wasn’t easy or comfortable. I was just used to the old program,” Velazquez said.
Time has enabled him to become better accustomed to the innings limit the Red Sox mapped out for each of his minor-league starts. In April, Velazquez went periods of eight and 11 days between starts with Pawtucket. That may sound unorthodox, yet Boston felt com- pelled to create a bit of a necessary break.
It was more important to gradually increase the number of innings from one start to the next rather than have Velazquez adhere to a strict pitch count. His first start with Pawtucket on April 11 featured 4.2 innings. His next start on April 19, Velazquez was bumped up slightly to five innings followed by six innings on April 30, 6.1 innings on May 8, and finally seven innings last Saturday.
“He understands what Boston is trying to do as far as protecting him,” Boles said. “I’m sure there’s been games where he wanted to pitch more, but he’s been nothing but a pro.”
Between starts, Velazquez won’t let more than three days go by without addressing his mechanics. He’ll take a towel and with a whipping/driving motion focus on getting extension and swinging his body open. It’s a routine that’s enabled him to stay relatively healthy – he listed an elbow issue in 2011 as the only injury that caused him to miss time.
“If the hitters are in the cage working every day, why don’t I do the same thing with my mechanics? In the cauldron of the game, I must rely on them,” Velazquez said. “In baseball, there’s going to be bad days. But if you work hard enough and prepare, they’ll be more good days.”
There was a time not too long ago when Velazquez relished the chance to finish what he started on the hill. Perhaps stemming from getting lifted after tossing six perfect innings against Gwinnett last month despite throwing a mere 55 pitches, there’s a certain camaraderie aspect that’s rooted in being a teammate that now holds great appeal.
“I enjoy leaving a game with a lead and letting the setup guy and closer finish it,” Velazquez said.
Kipper noted that in short time, Velazquez’s English-speaking skills have gone from real choppy to significantly improved. There’s also peace of mind with his wife, Isamary, and son, Hector, who turns two on Friday, living with him in a downtown Providence apartment as opposed to two time zones away.
“There hasn’t been a culture shock,” said Velazquez, noting Isamary still cooks his favorite foods from his home country. “When I come to stadium, I come free of worries.”
On Thursday night, a pitcher who in his short time with the PawSox demonstrated an uncanny knack for subtracting from the fastball and changing the hitter’s eye levels will make his big-league debut. It’s a far cry from where Velazquez was at this point a year ago, but rest assured nothing will change even though the degree of competition is about to get significantly ramped up. Velazquez is a pitcher who knows exactly who he is, and that’s a good thing as he prepares to make this jump.
“I know he’s grateful,” Boles said prior to Velazquez’s call-up. “Hopefully better things are to come.”