Houston Astros outfielder Nelson Velazquez was having a rough run at the plate with the team before a go-ahead homer provided life for both the franchise and Velazquez. It proved to be the one positive hit for Velasquez in the midst of a dark stretch with his new team.
Velazquez was designated for assignment by the St. Louis Cardinals on Aug. 8 and was claimed off waivers by the Astros two days later. After a brief stint with the major league club, he was again designated for assignment, this time by Houston. After clearing waivers and spending time with Sugar Land, Velazquez was signed back with the big-league Astros club on Aug. 24, where he's been up to this point.
Velazquez has slightly above-average numbers against right-handed pitching, which is the main reason the Astros picked him up twice this year. He has a career .736 OPS against righties compared to .696 against lefties. His batting average against righties is .212 compared to .206 against lefties. All these numbers come from 436 major league plate appearances.
Astros left fielder Nelson Velazquez (30) celebrates with right fielder Cam Smith (11) after. hitting a home run. Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Velazquez, despite being hitless coming into Monday's game, did have the decisive sacrifice fly in the Astros 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Aug. 12. But apart from that, there wasn't much for Astros fans to get excited about. They were getting a guy released by another team earlier in the year, whose value was hard to find.
Getting the start against the right-handed pitcher Anthony Kay , Velazquez hit seventh in the order, which seemed high for a guy who was hitless as an Astro.
Playing left field, Velazquez was put to work on the first play of the game against the Chicago White Sox . A medium-velocity liner sent Velasquez forward. The ball bounded awkwardly off Velazquez's glove for an error and went behind the left fielder for a double. This is not a huge surprise, as Velazquez struggled on defense with a negative four outs above average this season, according to Baseball Savant .
This was perhaps the low point of Velazquez's Astros tenure. He was also 0-for-11 at the time with six strikeouts in Houston. Luckily for Velazquez, Peter Lambert would hunker down and get the final three batters out to strand the runner in scoring position. Velazquez would fall to 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts by the end of the second inning.
Houston Astros left fielder Nelson Velazquez (30) rounds the bases after hitting a home run. Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
With two outs in the bottom of the fourth and the Astros now down by one run, Cam Smith came through with a triple that was misplayed by outfielder Braden Montgomery and rolled almost to the track, allowing the speedy Smith to reach third base. Velazquez sent a 1-1 pitch to the train tracks to jolt the Astros ahead of the division-leading White Sox. The ball left the bat at 109.1 miles per hour and traveled 415 feet. The expected batting average on the homer was .990.
It remains to be seen whether Velazquez can turn around his time with the Astros. His poor defense and strikeout-prone bat may prove to be too much of an albatross. But for one moment on Monday, he proved to be a hero for Houston.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/astros/onsi as Nelson Velasquez Provides Spark in the Midst of Rough Stretch for Astros .
