Vince Velasquez won't make his first regular season start for the Philadelphia Phillies until the club takes on the New York Mets tomorrow, but one scout in the league thinks Velasquez has a chance to be as good as some of the Mets talented young starters.
Making his weekly appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic's Mike Missanelli show, ESPN's Jayson Stark passed along this interesting nugget that a scout told him in regards Velasquez:
"You have some people who think Vince Velasquez actually does [have the most potential of the pitchers in the Phillies rotation]. I had a scout tell me he thinks Vince Velasquez has stuff in the category with the Mets guys, [Jacob] DeGrom and [Noah] Syndergaard."
Stark said this in regards to the idea of Aaron Nola potentially having the most potential in the rotation.
It goes without saying, but the Mets won the National League pennant in 2015 largely due to the presence of Syndergaard and DeGrom in their rotation, along with Matt Harvey. If the Phillies have one pitcher of that caliber in Velasquez, that would be huge given the potential that the duo of Nola and Jerad Eickhoff have flashed, and that the Phillies still have Jake Thompson looming in the minor leagues.
Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is the Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com, focusing on news and features.
