The Pittsburgh Pirates today signed right-handed pitcher Vince Velasquez (pronounced vuh-LAS-kez) to a one-year contract for the 2023 season.
“We are happy to bring Vince into our starting pitching group,” said Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington. “He has a starter’s repertoire and we are looking forward to working with him and watching him start games in black and gold.”
Velasquez spent the entire 2022 campaign with the Chicago White Sox, where he went 3-3 with a 4.78 ERA (75.1ip/40er), 69 strikeouts, 1.23 WHIP and .235 batting average against in 27 appearances (nine starts). He also ranked in the 78th percentile in Zone Miss percentage (19.5%), 74th percentile in Batting Average on Balls In Play (.270), 88th percentile of Four-Seam spin rate (2417) and 73rd percentile for average Slider spin rate (2501) among pitchers with at least 75 innings pitched according to TruMedia.
The 30-year-old righthander also posted a 2.92 ERA (24.2ip/8er), 24 strikeouts, .176 batting average against and 0.93 WHIP in his final 11 appearances, including one start. Among pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched in the second half of the season, he ranked in the 79th percentile in OBP (.267), 75th percentile in WHIP (1.07), 77th percentile in BABIP (.246), 73rd percentile in weighted OBA (.273) and 94th percentile in First Pitch Strike percentage (69.6%) according to TruMedia.
Velasquez, who has averaged 9.7 strikeouts per 9.0 innings pitched during his big league career, was originally selected by Houston in the second round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.
Since breaking into the big leagues in 2015, he has posted a career record of 34-47 with a 4.93 ERA (726.1ip/398er), 785 strikeouts, 1.38 WHIP and .255 batting average against in 183 appearances (136 starts) with Houston (2015), Philadelphia (2016-21), San Diego (2021) and the Chicago White Sox (2022).
Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster is now full.