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Unfortunately, April 7 found me halfway around the world in Taiwan for Velasquez's second start against the Miami Marlins. That meant a 7 a.m. first pitch -- too early for beers or pills.
The agony began quickly, with typically nibbling Vince going 3-2 on the first three Marlins. Starlin Castro stroked a double. VV uncorked a wild pitch to plate a run.
It was all so familiar. Vince's first start of the year ended after 2.2 innings, with 9 hits, 4 runs and a game surrendered to the Atlanta Braves.
As Justin Bour stepped in for the Marlins, I noticed that Zach Eflin pitched a gem earlier in the day for the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Seemed logical that Eflin would switch uniforms with Velasquez for their next starts.
I tweeted that prediction.
Then something happened -- the Phillies' offense eviscerated Marlins' pitching. Five runs in the first inning were followed by four runs in the third and eight runs in the fourth.
Vince relaxed. The ever-present tension evaporated. He threw free and easy. He threw strikes -- a lot of them.
The final line reveals a terrific start: 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run. You have to look closer to see VV's remarkable transformation from a thrower who threw nine balls to the first three hitters to the pitcher who offered up just seven balls the final three innings combined.
"He told me, 'I learned that my stuff is good enough,'" Comcast reporter David Murphy recounted.
His stuff has always been good enough. Vince is a legitimate four-pitch starter. According to BrooksBaseball, he threw mostly fastballs in that Marlins game, which makes sense given the huge lead.
Of the 67 fastballs he threw, 39 were "strikes not in play," a terrific 65 percent. By comparison, Gerrit Cole threw the same day, and 69 percent of his fastballs were SNIPs. Cole just set a Major League record for most strikeouts in the first three starts of a season.
Vince continued his momentum against the Rays Friday night, tossing 6.2 innings and giving up 4 hits, 1 run and recording 7 Ks.
Here's where it gets interesting: he did it with a completely different game plan. After throwing just two change-ups his first two starts, Vince threw six (with three whiffs) in the first inning alone.
Of his first 33 pitches, just 15 were fastballs. Yet, he walked just one batter on the night and had near-pinpoint control of his slider and curve.
Are we seeing a return of the 2016 Vince Velasquez who began his Phillies' career with two starts, 15 innings, 25 Ks, six hits and three walks?
This is impossible to predict given the emotional ride we have endured since that 16-strikeout complete game shutout exactly two years ago today.
I have always been a believer in Vince, while most Phillies' fans want him banished to the bullpen.
The talented 25-year-old struggles mightily with self-criticism and confidence. His last two starts are just 191 pitches of what has been a rocky, two-year maturation process.
So it's all wins and champagne showers from here? I doubt it. Vince's lone walk Friday came in the bottom of the fifth inning after a very close 1-2 pitch was called a ball. The next four pitches were out of the zone as Bad Vince returned.
Confidence and composure are things Vince is likely going to battle to control for some time to come.
The fact that he keeps getting up off the floor two years into this journey tells me he is going to make it.
