Most Phillies fans know the story of Vince Velasquez by now. He has the stuff of a top-end starter, but inconsistency, injuries, and command issues have plagued him for most of his time in Philadelphia.
There has always been a notion that Velasquez would be better served in a bullpen role where his stuff can play up and his command issues would be minimalized. The calls to convert him to a reliever grew loud last offseason after he finished 2017 with a 5.13 ERA, 5.52 fielding-independent pitching, and 10.8% walk rate in just 72 innings.