Hector Velazquez had a rough outing last night for the Boston Red Sox. In his seventh start of the season, Velazquez had what was far and away his worst outing of the year.
In the start, Velazquez only lasted 1/3 of an inning, allowing five runs and causing the Sox to fall behind early in their 7-3 loss.
"I felt fine. [The Astros] hit a triple, I made a couple mistakes, and I tried to battle through it but I couldn’t," said Velazquez through a translator after the outing.
“It looked from the get-go that (Velazquez) didn’t have it,” said Alex Cora, per Chris Mason of The Eagle-Tribune.
Though Velazquez felt fine during the outing, he definitely didn't "have it." In fact, he logged the shortest outing by a Red Sox starter in more than 15 years.
Per Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe, Velazquez is the first Red Sox starter to last just 1/3 of an inning since John Burkett in 2003.
Needless to say, that's not company that Velazquez would like to be keeping, but in his previous two starts, he performed well, allowing a total of four runs over eight innings pitched. Chalk up his poor outing on Saturday to playing one of the best hitting teams in baseball.
Velazquez may need to continue to serve as a spot starter moving forward, but the Red Sox rotation is getting a boost on Monday. David Price will be returning to the starting rotation for a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Velazquez will likely continue to start with Nathan Eovaldi on the IL, but he may alternate starts duties with other pitchers. Josh Smith, who already made a start this season, stands out as one possibility.
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