Velasquez: 'I took the 'L' on myself'

MIAMI -- When asked about Vince Velasquez hours before Friday’s first pitch, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler had one message for the righty: Make this rotation spot yours.

But in the series opener at Marlins Park, Velasquez could not deliver, as the Phillies fell 6-2 to the Marlins to begin a nine-game road trip.

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"The message has been, ‘Take hold of this spot in the rotation,’” Kapler had said. “‘Show us, make it unequivocally clear this is yours.’ That has been a pretty consistent message for the last 10-15 days.”

Kapler had also said that six innings and around 100 pitches would be a reasonable goal for Velasquez. However, he was chased after giving up four runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings, just before facing Brian Anderson -- who knocked an RBI double and a two-run blast against the righty -- for a third time.

The Phillies gave up two homers to the Marlins -- who have gone deep just 26 times at home this season. Philadelphia’s pitching staff has surrendered a National League-leading 140 blasts.

“I was just able to take advantage of some mistakes out over the plate,” said Anderson, who entered Friday 2-for-13 against Velasquez. “He's a guy that I've actually had problems with in the past. Before the game, kind of worked off the machine. He's got a good fastball. I was trying to get on time with that, and try to take advantage of some mistakes, and I was able to get some out over the plate today.”

After smacking his first career homer -- driving in the two runs the Phillies would score -- to left field in the fifth to cut Philadelphia’s deficit to one, Velasquez needed a shutdown inning to keep the game close. Instead, he put two on with no outs and gave up an RBI single to Garrett Cooper before being pulled, having thrown 84 total pitches.

Velasquez walked two in Friday’s outing, after facing 47 batters in 12 1/3 innings and walking only one. The first free pass scored on Anderson’s RBI double, and the second walk started the inning in which Velasquez got chased.

“It is very frustrating to go out there and to walk the leadoff hitter, especially a pitcher and to not get out of the inning,” Velasquez said. “That’s a big backfire. I took the ‘L’ on myself, pretty much, just not doing my job getting out of that inning.”

Added Kapler: “It wasn't Vince’s best performance, there were some things about it that were ... I think Anderson took some really good swings off him, gave him a really hard time. Leave it at that.”

Velasquez has struggled to find consistency in a Phillies rotation that ranks 16th in the Majors with a 4.46 ERA. He began the season as a starter, with a 1-2 record and 3.99 ERA through six starts and 29 1/3 innings, before going to the 10-day injured list with a right forearm strain.

Once Velasquez returned, he moved to the bullpen and pitched 9 1/3 innings, allowing six runs and striking out 13, before taking his place in the No. 5 spot of the rotation on June 16.

Velasquez has been no stranger to challenges in his Major League career, with stints in the bullpen and periods on the injured list.

After impressing in his first season with the Phillies in 2016 -- striking out nine in his debut (the most since Hall of Famer Roy Halladay in 2010) and throwing 15 scoreless innings to begin his Phillies career (longest since Marty Bystrom’s 19-inning streak in 1980) -- Velasquez was plagued with injuries the following year. He notched just six starts with a 2.96 ERA from May 25 to Aug. 4.

As Velasquez got deeper into the 2018 season, he gave up a career-worst 10 runs on June 8 and started just 10 games between August and September, going 4-6 with a 7.09 ERA in 39 1/3 innings.

“Hopefully I bounce back from this and get another opportunity,” Velasquez said. “Coming into this game, it just seems like everything was going really well. Had some command with the slider, threw some curveballs, threw some changeups in there, just finding the feel of utilizing all those pitches and try to help myself get out of jam situations. … It's just a matter of being a little bit more consistent on those secondary pitches and getting out of those jam situations.”