Pitcher takes line drive to throwing arm, finishes miraculous play with opposite hand
Philadelphia pitcher Vince Velasquez provided a prime example Saturday night of how to play through the pain.
With two outs in the top of the second, the Phillies starter was pitching to the Nationals’ Adam Eaton with a runner on second.
Eaton drilled a line drive right back at Velasquez.
The ball nailed Velasquez on his right elbow on his pitching arm. But Velasquez did not stop to shake it off nor did he hesitate in the least. He immediately hopped off the mound to field the ball, which bounced toward the third base line.
Velasquez flipped off his glove and picked up the ball with his left hand — his non-throwing hand — and fired to first to get Eaton for the third out.
.@vjvelasquezrhp got struck with a line drive on his right arm, so he made the play with his left.
He would leave the game, but not before getting the out. pic.twitter.com/V3xR4M7ult
— MLB (@MLB) June 30, 2018
As impressive as it was for him to make the play — that featured a near perfect throw — with his left hand, it also shows how much his right arm was hurting from the impact of the line drive.
As it turned out, his elbow was in a lot of pain. Immediately after recording the out, Velasquez fell to the ground, writhing in pain.
“He’s ambidextrous, so it’s not surprising that he got up and threw it left handed. What’s surprising is that he did it after being in so much pain,” said Tom McCarthy, the Phillies’ TV broadcaster.
Velasquez exited the game after that play and did not return. The Phillies went on to win 3-2.
“I tried to finish the play,” Velasquez said after the game, according to MLB.com.
Velasquez actually threw left-handed one year in high school while he had an injury to his pitching arm. So instead of sitting out, he played center field left-handed, MLB.com reported. But even he was surprised by the accuracy and strength of that throw to first.
“I actually surprised myself throwing a strike right there,” he said
His manager, Gabe Kapler was not all that shocked.
“It is well-known he is one of our best all-around athletes,” Kapler said. “You just would never predict that.”
The good news is the x-rays were negative.
“I thought something was broken. Thanks to God, nothing is severe,” Velasquez said after the game.
Velasquez was placed on the 10-day disabled list with what the team calls an elbow contusion.
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