CINCINNATI — The upside of Vince Velasquez, one of two starting pitchers the Pirates added via free agency this winter, can be really good. With multiple breaking balls, as well as a spin-heavy, riding fastball, it’s certainly not weaponry Velasquez lacks. For the large part of his career, however, it’s been control. Especially at key times.
Such was the case Sunday, as Velasquez made his Pirates debut against the Reds at Great American Ball Park and also committed a couple of crucial mistakes, poorly located pitches that served as the difference during a 3-1 Pittsburgh loss.
It was, in many ways, a typical Velasquez outing. He was terrific in the first, then all of a sudden hung a slider in the second inning. A few more missed spots led to another Reds run in the third before Velasquez again looked terrific in the fourth.
The worst pitch of the afternoon — a 3-1 fastball that was absolutely grooved — eventually meant curtains for Velasquez, who has struggled with inconsistency throughout his career but tamped down his walks per nine innings to a comfortable 2.99 last season, a career-low mark.
Pittsburgh added Velasquez thinking he could benefit from regular starts and a back-to-the-drawing-board approach that was applied to Tyler Anderson and Jose Quintana the past two years. Now nearly two months into the experiment, we’re no closer to solving the consistency issues that thus far in his career have eluded the 30-year-old right-hander.
The problems started with one out in the second inning, when he allowed a solo home run to Reds first baseman Jason Vosler. After falling behind in the count 2-1, Velasquez threw a slider he knew he had to put over the plate. Vosler seemed to be waiting for it.
With the pitch located on the inner-half, the lefty-hitting Vosler pulled it into the right-field seats for a solo shot that gave Cincinnati an early 1-0 lead.
The Reds extended their advantage to 2-0 an inning later when catcher Tyler Stephenson worked a 2-0 count and hit another slider from Velasquez between shortstop and third base. Though Oneil Cruz showed range in getting to the ball, he didn’t have a play to make.
More than the Stephenson at-bat, the bigger frustrating thing was a two-out walk issued to left fielder Jake Fraley, which was made possible by a pitch-clock violation called on Velasquez. Dating back to spring training, the right-hander has randomly had issues with the pitch clock, incurring several penalties during Grapefruit League games.
Bryan Reynolds cut Cincinnati’s lead in half with his first home run of the season before center fielder TJ Friedl attacked another mistake from Velasquez. This time it was a 3-1 fastball Velasquez left over the heart of the plate. Friedl crushed it over the fence in right-center.
It looked like the Pirates might mount a rally with Reds starter Graham Ashcraft out of the game after seven innings. Rodolfo Castro scored a pinch-hit single and Cruz followed with a base hit. But Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen and Carlos Santana made outs to end the threat.
ON THE MOUND
The biggest news might’ve been parallel to Sunday’s game, as the Pirates announced around the seventh inning that they had moved JT Brubaker (right elbow/forearm discomfort) to the 60-day injured list and claimed right-hander Edwin Uceta off waivers from the Tigers.
Brubaker has been on the 15-day injured list since having trouble recovering after his March 21 start against the Phillies. It’s possible Brubaker could require Tommy John surgery or some other procedure that would end his season.
As for Uceta, the Pirates optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. He’s worked 37⅓ major league innings for the Dodgers (2021) and Diamondbacks (2022), pitching to a 6.27 ERA and 4.46 FIP, with 19 walks and 38 strikeouts.
He did fare better in the minor leagues last season. Uceta had a 4.86 ERA in 50 innings (28 games/5 starts) with Triple-A Reno in 2022, with 30 walks, 70 strikeouts and a .198 batting average against.
The Pirates obviously had a tough time facing Ashcraft, who gave his team seven innings of one-run ball, walking one and striking out six. Ashcraft threw either a cutter or slider 89% of the time, but the recipe worked. The Pirates had just six hard-hit balls (95+ mph) against him.
AT THE PLATE
While there’s been an eerie silence to his contract situation, Bryan Reynolds enjoyed the biggest swing of the game for the Pirates with his solo home run in the fourth inning. After Ashcraft had retired nine of the first 10 Pirates, Reynolds got a pitch that he likes — harder stuff up — and crushed it.
The Pirates outfielder drilled a 97 mph cutter 410 feet over the fence in center, the ball leaving his bat at 109.0 mph. It was just the second homer Ashcraft has allowed to a lefty in his career. The only problem was that there wasn’t more.
Ji-Man Choi, making his first start of the season, struck out three times. Andrew McCutchen had the only other extra-base hit: a double in the sixth inning.
Connor Joe, starting in left, collected a pair of hits and stole a base. His best play, though, might’ve actually come on the defensive end, when Joe dove to rob former Pirate Kevin Newman on a sinking liner in the seventh inning.
UP NEXT
Johan Oviedo gets the ball in Boston. The big righty had a 2.93 ERA in his last four appearances of spring training, earning a rotation spot when Brubaker went on the 15-day IL.
