SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. – Vince Velasquez was removed from today’s Pirates game with right elbow discomfort. The right-hander had pitched three innings, allowing a run on two hits and a walk, while striking out two.
The lone run by Velasquez came on a solo homer in the second inning against Taylor Walls. That snapped a scoreless innings streak at 19.1 innings for Velasquez.
If he needs to miss any time, the Pirates would likely replace Velasquez with Luis Ortiz. No word yet on the extent of his injury, but this will be updated after the game with more info.
UPDATE 4:31 PM: Velasquez said he was “optimistic” about his status after the game.
“There was a pitch where I felt a little discomfort and kind of loss velocity throughout the third, and I knew I had to mentioned something,” said Velasquez.
After telling the Pirates he couldn’t go anymore, he was removed in what Derek Shelton identified as a caution-based move. The optimism from Velasquez comes from a similar situation in the past.
“I’ve been through a situation like this before,” said Velasquez, who had something like this last in Philadelphia. “I’m glad I stopped when I needed to. If I would have kept going, it probably would have been a little bit more severe.”
