By: Tim Kelly, Managing Editor 
Though it's been rather disappointing that Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Vince Velasquez has only pitched more than six innings one time this season — his April 14 complete-game shutout, his lower innings totals may actually work to the Phillies benefit in 2016.
Velasquez has yet to be activated from the disabled list after a biceps injury, but discussed what type of innings plan his agent Scott Boras and him expect him to be on for the rest of the season with MLB.com's Todd Zolecki:
"The agents and I discussed it a little bit, but I don't know the definite answer, an exact amount of innings," Velasquez said. "I don't know, I'd want to say roughly like maybe 150 or something, maybe 160 tops. If there was a possible chance of being in a playoff run or something, I would love to help the guys out in relief because I've done that in the past."
Given that Velasquez has pitched 61.2 innings through his first 11 plus starts of 2016, it seems fairly realistic that Velasquez can pitch 150 innings, give or take, without the Phillies having to drastically alter his workload in any way. Should Velasquez reach 150 innings, or whatever number the Phillies plan to shut him down at, prior to the season's end, the Phillies could shut Velasquez down for the season a start or two early without it being much of an issue.
Velasquez bringing up the idea of how his innings limit would be handled in a playoff run seems like forcing a problem that won't exist, but even if the Phillies were able to climb back into playoff contention, it wouldn't make sense for the Phillies to push Velasquez's innings in 2016. Not only has he flashed ace potential, but he has had quite a few injuries in his short career. On top of both of those factors, between Triple A and the Houston Astros, Velasquez only pitched 88.2 innings in 2015, so he's already going to be looking at a drastic innings spike by pitching in the neighborhood of 150 innings.
