By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
Phillies starter Vince Velasquez made his first, and perhaps only, rehab start since being placed on the disabled list with strained biceps. He was removed from the game on June 8 against the Cubs after throwing two fastballs in the 80's, a pitch that normally reaches the mid 90's.
Last night for Reading, he pitched five innings of one-run ball. He struck out three and walked one. Comcast Sportsnet noted that his fastball reached as high as 97mph.
Vince Velasquez's fastball reached as high as 97 mph in his first rehab start Wednesday with Double A Reading, and if he has his way, his next start will be with the Phillies.
"Felt really good. Everything just seems like it was back to normal," Velasquez said. "Fastball was looking really good. Tonight's goals were to throw all pitches and locate them. I took about 10 days off, it took about 10 days to get back on the mound. And coming out tonight, I was hoping everything was working, that I could take everything I did in my bullpen (sessions) into the game, and everything was working pretty well."
Prior to getting hurt, Velasquez was 5-2 with a 3.65 ERA, but had allowed 20 earned runs in his last 30 1/3 innings of work. If all goes well after one rehab start and the Phillies activate him, it will be interesting to see who goes back to the minors between Adam Morgan and Zach Eflin.
"Well, I mean, I went 76 (pitches) … that was pretty much today's objective, to go at least five and get 75 in," Velasquez said. "So I did that. Talking to [the Phillies, they] pretty much [want] me to go two, but I'm good, I'm ready to go. … If it was my choice, yeah, I'm ready to go."
The Phillies acquired Velasquez along with Brett Oberholtzer and prospects Tom Eshelman, Mark Appel and Harold Arauz in the trade that sent closer Ken Giles to the Astros. Giles hasn't duplicated the success he had while in red pinstripes. He's 0-3 with a 5.52 ERA in 33 appearances this season for Houston.
