The Phillies will be playing the Yankees in their third exhibition game and Vince Velasquez will be getting the start over Jake Arrieta. Now this could just be a fluke, something could be wrong , Arrieta could be tired or doesn’t want to pitch. But it could be possible that there is a deeper meaning to it.
Jake Arrieta was not very consistent in the 2019 season. He did get hurt and pitched through it and that obviously was a factor. Velasquez didn’t have a good season either. He went 7-8 with an ERA of 4.91. Not great. While Arrieta went 8-8 with a 4.64 ERA. (Also not great) Arrieta did pitch less games then Velasquez did witch also could be a factor in the stats.
My theory is that Velasquez will start the season ahead of Arrieta in the rotation because of Arrieta’s injury in the previous year. Now again this could just be a fluke but I think there is definitely more to it.
Philadelphia Sports Chronicle 