The 2020 Major League Baseball Draft came and went, and Antonio Velez had to figure out his next steps.
Velez, at that point a senior at Florida State, wasn’t selected during the five-round draft — condensed from the usual 40 rounds by MLB due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The left-handed pitcher’s future was uncertain.
“I talked to my agent a lot,” Velez said. “He helped me get through it.”
In the end, Velez signed as an undrafted free agent with the Miami Marlins, his favorite team growing up.
Things have worked out so far.
Velez, 24, put up an impressive showing in his first season of minor-league ball. He made 23 appearances, including 14 starts, and put up a 2.55 ERA with 93 strikeouts against 11 walks over 99 innings while holding opponents to a .203 batting average. He was promoted to the Double A Pensacola Blue Wahoos in late August and put up arguably his best stretch of three starts at that level to close the year: 18 innings pitched, one earned run allowed (a 0.50 ERA), 18 strikeouts and just two walks.
“It’s honestly just a dream come true,” Velez said Thursday after pitching in a simulated game at the Marlins’ Jupiter training complex at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. “Being able to play at the next level, not many people get to do it. I’ve got to take advantage of it and just go out there and do what I’ve got to do.”
Velez’s top pitch is his changeup, which Baseball America ranked as the best in the Marlins’ system heading into the 2022 season. The outlet also listed Velez as the pitcher with the best control — big accolades considering how deep the Marlins are with pitching prospects.
“All of our staff is really good,” Velez said. “Everybody throws the ball really well. It makes us work even harder.”
Velez said his focus during this development camp is to improve his all around game and not necessarily developing any individual pitch.
“Just pitchability,” Velez said, “and becoming a better pitcher.”
Another factor that Velez said he thinks helped him get off to a quick start in the minors: Playing winter ball in 2020. The 2020 minor-league season was canceled because of the pandemic, so playing in the Puerto Rican Winter League — albeit just two starts and nine innings — helped give him a taste of what was to come.
“It was a great first step for me,” Velez said.
He built on it in 2021 and has the stage set to continue in 2022 as he works his way into the upper levels of the minors.
This and that
— Offense was at a minimum during the simulated game. The highlights: a Victor Mesa Jr. RBI double to left field that scored Cody Morissette and a double by JJ Bleday. Nasim Nunez made a pair of great plays at shortstop.
— Bryan Hoeing, Luis Vizcaino and Jesse Bergin were the other pitchers who threw during the simulated game.
