Velasquez not expecting recovery to take long
Vince Velasquez did not show up for work in a cast Sunday, or a splint, or even with his injured pitching arm caked in ice.
As for a wince … there might have been a trace.
“Pretty sore,” he said. “Pretty sore. I feel a lot better than yesterday. And I have a lot more movement going on.”
Velasquez was struck in the right arm by a second-inning line drive Saturday from the Washington Nationals’ Adam Eaton. Though recovering to throw Eaton out, left-handed, he had to leave the game. Sunday morning, he was placed on the 10-day disabled list.
“I’m sure there will be some throwing involved in the next few days and stuff,” he said, before the Phils’ 4-3, 13-inning victory over the Nationals. “I will continue doing my workout, my lower half, upper body, core, whatever I need to do to take care of my body physically. And we’ll go from there.”
Velasquez is confident that he will not be disabled for long.
“I think it will be really good,” he said. “I’ll take my 10 days and do what I’ve got to do. I’ll have down time, bounce back, be refreshed and feel refreshed.”
Also Sunday, Zac Curtis was demoted to Lehigh Valley. The Phillies replenished their roster by promoting Jake Thompson and activating Pat Neshek.
Gabe Kapler said he had no immediate plans to replace Velasquez in the rotation with either Thompson or Mark Leiter Jr. With offdays Monday and Thursday, there is a minimal rush. But the Phils will host the Mets for a doubleheader next Monday.
“It’s all on the table,” the manager said.
Velasquez said he was not x-rayed and does not expect to undergo any scans.
“It’s just about having a full recovery and not really trying to be too pushy with it,” he said. “We have two days off coming up and we’re just going to play it safe and take it day by day. But other than that, give it 10 days and we’ll go from there.”
*** Velasquez said he took many phone calls from friends entertained by his left-handed throw to first.
No one seemed more entertained than Velasquez himself.
“Yeah. Yeah,” he said, smiling. “That was awesome. I’ve been watching it like 20 times. It’s just crazy. It’s mind-blowing. I told (Kapler) I literally had intentions of throwing with my left hand. I didn’t know where the ball was going, but I just wanted to get the out. It was just a big, adrenaline type of thing.”
*** Andrew Knapp Sunday provided the Phils’ first pinch-hit, walk-off home run since Cody Asche in 2015. It was the first walkoff homer by a Phillie since Ryan Howard in 2016.
“That was cool,” he said. “That was a huge team win, a huge team series. For the bullpen to step up and keep throwing zeros up was awesome. It was a great team effort.”
Knapp said it was his first walk-off home run since he played Class AA baseball. That was in 2015.
“I was just trying to be short to the ball,” he said, “and thankfully I got something to hit.”
*** NOTES » Nick Pivetta struggled in his start Friday, not lasting two innings. He made up for that Sunday, which would have been his day to throw anyway, by pitching a scoreless 13th inning. “He fought to get in that game today,” Kapler said. “He asked every couple minutes if he could go down to the bullpen.”
Unlike Friday, Pivetta was crisp, throwing 19 pitches, 11 for strikes, walking one and striking out one. “It’s different than starting,” the right-hander said. “You go off adrenaline and try to keep your emotions in check.” ... Neshek missed the entire first half of the season, but he was activated Sunday, in time to pitch in the first game of the second half. “Hopefully I can catch my groove here,” the 2017 All-Star said, “and kind of pick up where last year left off.” ... The Phillies will be off Monday. Tuesday at 7:05, Zach Eflin (6-2, 3.02 ERA) will pitch against Baltimore right-hander Alex Cobb (2-9, 6.75).