In news broken by Kiley McDaniel from ESPN, the Pittsburgh Pirates have agreed to a one-year deal with right-handed pitcher Vince Velasquez. According to Robert Murray, Velasquez will receive $3.15M for the 2023 season.
Source: Free agent RHP Vince Velasquez has an agreement on a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
— Kiley McDaniel (@kileymcd) December 6, 2022
Velasquez has a career 34-47, 4.93 record, a 4.53 FIP and a 1.38 WHIP over eight seasons in the majors, spent mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies, while also seeing time with the Houston Astros (2015), San Diego Padres (2021) and Chicago White Sox (2022). He has made 136 starts and 47 relief appearances, with most of that relief time coming during his first and last seasons. He has 785 strikeouts in 726.1 innings during his career, though his 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings in 2022 represent his lowest strikeout rate for a season.
The 30-year-old Velasquez made nine starts and 18 relief appearances for the White Sox in 2022. He had a 4.78 ERA, a 4.25 FIP, a 69:25 SO/BB ratio and a 1.23 WHIP in 75.1 innings. He was coming off of a season in 2021 in which he had a 6.30 ERA, a 5.88 FIP and a 1.48 WHIP in 94.1 innings, mostly working as a starter.
If you missed it from earlier, the Pirates have agreed to a deal with left-handed pitcher Jarlin Garcia.
