A plethora of injuries to the Chicago Cubs’ pitching staff has given 33-year-old veteran pitcher Vince Velasquez a shot in the majors sooner than anyone would have thought in 2026. The right-handed pitcher was called up from Triple-A prior to Friday night’s series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Cubs placed left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar on the 15-day injured list.
Thielbar left Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies with a hamstring injury. He was moved up to the close role in the bullpen after Daniel Palencia was sidelined with a lat strain last week. Thielbar is now the fourth top reliever on the injured list for the Cubs, joining Palencia, Hunter Harvey and Phil Maton.
So, Velasquez, who signed a minor league deal with the Cubs in February, is back in MLB for the first time since 2023. He made four appearances and three starts with the Iowa Cubs in Triple-A to begin this season. The righty struck out 19, walked nine, and recorded a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings.
Redemption for Velasquez?
Once a highly-ranked prospect for the Houston Astros, Velasquez is mostly known for his time with the Philadelphia Phillies. The right-hander was traded to the Phillies after the 2015 season and was part of their pitching staff for the next six seasons before he was eventually released in 2021. Velasquez always showed flashes of how good he could be, most notably a 16-strikeout, complete-game shutout in his second career start with the Phillies, but that was a decade ago, and unfortunately, the arm talent has always matched the results.
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In parts of nine MLB seasons Velasquez has posted a 4.88 ERA in 191 total games. That includes 144 starts. Nearly 800 career innings in the majors and he’s only had one season with an ERA below four, which actually came in his most recent year pitching in the big leagues.
Again, I’m not saying the Cubs should expect Velasquez to give them any value in 2026, but maybe he can give them a bulk of quality innings similar to what Chris Flexen did last year. First, you’re probably wondering what the hell happened to Velasquez and why he hasn’t pitched in MLB since 2023.
Well, let’s begin with the positives. The right-handed pitcher recorded a 3.86 ERA with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2023 season, but then he blew out his elbow after April and was shut down for the rest of the year. Prior to the injury, Velasquez had 37 strikeouts in 37.1 innings, was pretty good in six April starts (3.06 ERA, 23.4 K% in 32.1 IP), but any chance of a comeback year was cut short for him.
The good news in trying to project him in 2026 is that Velasquez has already pitched in a full season since needing to repair the UCL in his right elbow. Velasquez spent the 2025 season at Triple-A in the Cleveland Guardians organization and then made 11 appearances in the KBO with the Lotte Giants.
It’s tough to say what happened in South Korea because Velasquez did perform well at Triple-A, where he posted a 3.42 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 81.2 innings before a disastrous 35-inning stretch with the Lotte Giants. In the KBO, Velasquez had an 8.23 ERA and allowed a .320 opponent batting average.
Maybe he had trouble adjusting to a new type of ball or whatever other reason, but Velasquez has proven to be healthy again. He has had some recent success in MLB, albeit in a limited sample, and, given the Cubs’ history with under-the-radar minor league signings, Velasquez can give this team a boost.
No, not as a starting pitcher or even a lockdown reliever, but as we saw in 2025 with Flexen, sometimes it’s nice to just give the rest of your bullpen a breather. Flexen made 21 appearances with the Cubs last season, and 20 of those outings came as a reliever. As a relief pitcher, Flexen posted a 2.72 ERA and, more importantly, in 12 of his 20 games out of the bullpen, Flexen recorded at least six outs.
Flexen was a starting pitcher for most of his MLB career, but he was able to contribute as a long reliever for the Cubs, mostly in mop-up duty. Maybe not the most important innings, but Flexen got the job done, ate up innings, and saved other pitchers’ arms for a few months. Velasquez can do the same.
He doesn’t have much reliever experience, but back in 2022, Velasquez posted a 4.25 ERA in 36 innings after the White Sox moved him to the bullpen. The righty made 18 relief appearances, 11 of which he logged at least two innings, and out of 17 earned runs that he allowed, five of them came in one outing. In Velasquez’s other 17 relief outings with the White Sox, he had a 3.38 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 32 innings, while allowing only one home run.
The Cubs had 22 pitchers who had at least 10 IP last year, and 17 of them were out there for at least 20 innings. Injuries are going to happen, and you’ll need guys like Velasquez to step in at a moment’s notice to fill in, and while he may ultimately be nowhere near as important as 15 other guys, he can be another Flexen type, and that’s pretty damn good for taking a flyer on a guy who hasn’t pitched in MLB in three years.
