Vincent Velasquez with the premiere pitching performance of 2016 thus far

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Vincent Velasquez – the former Astros starter who was traded for Ken Giles in the offseason – made one of the best starts in Phillies history today. Velasquez had a game score of 97 today, and only four Phillies pitchers ever have had a better score than that in a game they started.

In a 3-0 Phillies win in Philadelphia over the San Diego Padres, Velasquez logged 16 strikeouts while allowing three hits on his way to a complete game shutout.

This reminds me of Michael Pineda’s May 10th start from last season in the Bronx when he had 16 strikeouts and zero walks.

Velasquez hasn’t allowed a run this season yet, if you’re one of those people who believes it was just because of the Padres futility.