Phillies' Vince Velasquez: Cultivating curveball

Velasquez is working on his curveball this spring, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Analysis:

During his inconsistent and injury-shortened but often brilliant 2016, Velasquez threw his two fastballs 64.2 percent of the time, per Fangraphs, though it was less productive because his changeup failed to complement the heat. Fangraphs (9.9 percent) and PITCHf/x (13.6) differ on how often he used his curveball, likely because some sliders and hooks often look too similar to identify properly. Still, stabilizing his main breaking pitch could provide the missing piece to a bigger step forward. Though the Phillies are expected to limit his innings again, Velasquez's overpowering stuff makes viable target in all formats as he looks to top the 136 innings he logged in 2016.