The Chicago White Sox played their first game of the season at home. It came against the Seattle Mariners this Tuesday afternoon. Chicago was able to pull out a narrow 3-2 win. The bats weren’t as hot as they were on Sunday but the pitching was good and saved this game for the Sox.
It was Vince Velasquez’s first start for the Sox after being brought on board during the offseason. He signed as a free agent and was thought to be able to find a spot in the starting rotation along with the likes of Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, and Dylan Cease.
The weather was ideal for a baseball game and mother nature wouldn’t do anything to spoil Velasquez’s first start with the Sox.
One way to describe Velasquez’s first start was that it was strong. In fact, you might want to call it successful due to the fact that he allowed just one run in four innings. That one run allowed was a home run by Mariners designated hitter Eugenio Suarez.
The Chicago White Sox are going to need Vince Velasquez to pitch like that a lot.
When it came to hitting the ball, batters were able to get two hits on him including that home run. That was all that he relinquished in his start. That may have been a best-case scenario for the White Sox as he didn’t give up the farm and get them in trouble.
Velasquez did pretty much what he had to do. When it came to walking batters, Velasquez had a total of three. Maybe that’s to be expected to start the season. Everyone’s not quite warmed up yet, especially because of the abbreviated spring training. None of the walks came back to haunt him.
He recorded two total strikeouts in his four innings of work. Velasquez threw 62 pitches and had 36 strikes. He had one earned run and his ERA was 2.25. He was relieved at the bottom of the 5th by Bennett Sousa.
Velazquez’s first start was pretty much what the Sox were looking for. They wanted a nice controlled few innings where nothing got out of hand. They got just that. Hopefully, they can get repeat performances like this one out of him in the future.
One thing is for sure, he will be part of the rotation, for now. We will if he sticks in the rotation when they get a bit healthier as a group. If he keeps playing like he did Tuesday or better, he will become a mainstay.