Guardians' attempt to revive injured pitcher comes to end as he leaves MLB

This spring, the Cleveland Guardians signed starting pitcher Vince Velasquez to a minor league contract in the hopes that the team’s pitching factory would be able to help the veteran find a little more magic in his right arm. 

On Wednesday, we finally got confirmation that wasn’t the case, as the team announced that it had sold Velasquez's contract to the Lotte Giants of the KBO. 

Guardians' attempt to revive Vince Velasquez comes to end as he leaves MLB

Velasquez, a former second-round pick by the Astros in 2010, had spent almost the entire team at Triple-A Columbus. He was added to the team’s 26-man roster at the end of April but was designated for assignment without appearing in a game in response to the team’s acquisition of Matt Festa. 

He hasn’t appeared in a major league game since he played for the Pirates in 2023 after he missed all of the 2024 season due to right elbow surgery. His best season came in 2016 when he posted a 4.12 ERA in 131 innings with the Phillies. 

He didn’t pitch horrible during his time with Columbus (3.42 ERA in 81 2/3 innings), but the Guardians never never found a way to clear a spot for him on the roster. His short promotion came at a time when the Guardians were shifting through options in the bullpen (remember Cody Bolton?), but there was never a point where they needed him everyday. 

He also got skipped over the rotation spot that opened up after Luis Ortiz got suspended, which was due in part to him not being on the 40-man roster. 

Velasquez will now get a chance to join the Tigers in the middle of their KBO stretch run. He’ll take the roster spot of former big leaguer Tucker Davidson, who threw six innings of one run ball yesterday. 

The KBO’s postseason eligibility deadline for foreign players is Aug. 15, so the team elected to add Velasquez ahead of that deadline. 

While Velasquez's time in Triple-A didn’t result in an MLB promotion, there’s still a chance that his time in Korea could serve as a springboard for another MLB opportunity. He’s proven he can be a quality MLB pitcher in the past (he  has a 4.88 ERA across 763 2/3 career innings), but now it’s about what he can do to show teams that he can still get guys out. 

The Guardians’ signing of Velasquez was a classic case of “no harm, no foul.” It may not have panned out, but there was no reason for Cleveland to not take a chance on him.