Alex Vesia has converted 15 save opportunities in his career and pitched in 308 games over parts of seven seasons at the Major League level.
But his appearance in the ninth inning on Tuesday came with more significance than any other. The Dodgers hosted their annual Healthcare Appreciation Night, which for Vesia and his wife Kayla, meant showing hospital employees their gratitude for support with the tragic loss of their newborn daughter, Sterling Sol, last October.
The Vesias invited nearly two dozen healthcare workers to Dodger Stadium, where they got to go on the field before first pitch and take in the game from a suite.
Their loudest cheers came after Vesia struck out the side to wrap up the Dodgers’ 2-1 win.
“Throughout everything it’s opened my eyes to all of healthcare. Over my time, I’ve never had anything like this. It was definitely new,” Vesia said after the game.
“I have a much bigger respect for all of them. Today was the first time I’ve seen pretty much all of them since everything. So it was very special, very emotional. One of the main, main nurses, she was here tonight, too. That took care of us.
“That was awesome. I couldn’t have wrote it any better.”
Vesia brings with him plenty of adrenaline on a regular basis, but there was added emotion given the bigger meaning of the night. He was needed for the save opportunity due to Edwin Díaz not yet being cleared to pitch in a game despite previous comments. The Dodgers had their closer throw a bullpen session on Tuesday afternoon as a final step toward gaining medical clearance.
“You guys know I wear my heart on my sleeve when I’m out there. I was pretty fired up to be put in that spot. Doc trusted me to get those three hitters out,” Vesia said.
“Those are no-joke hitters right there. So I definitely knew I needed to be on my game, and everything felt really good, and I made some pretty good pitches. I think even Will and I surprised each other with the changeup that I threw. Tonight was a really, really special night.”
Chris Archer helped Alex Vesia with changeup
Vesia primarily relies on a fastball-slider pitch mix, but did incorporate one changeup in his latest appearance. Getting comfortable with it has been a collaborative effort, but special assistant Chris Archer seemingly unlocked the pitch.
“I give a big credit to the coaching staff. Talking with Mark (Prior) and Connor (McGuiness) about stuff, even Ryan Dennick, the Triple-A coach, we’ve gone back and forth quite a bit. Rob Hill and I, we’ve gone back and forth on it,” Vesia said of developing his changeup.
“Tried to incorporate it in years past, and it’s been not very good. This year, with the grip and trust, I was actually talking with Chris Archer about it, he had me throwing it at, like, 100 feet, versus 60 feet. And that kind of changed my feel for it. Having the third pitch, I think it’s a little harder to game plan fastball up and slider down. Now there is a third component to that. Just got to keep riding it.”
Vesia added he wasn’t fully certain how or why throwing a changeup from the further distance made such a difference.
“I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t really know,” he said. “Arch was watching us play catch in Spring Training and said, ‘Do you want to scoot back a little bit?’ OK. ‘Throw a changeup.’ I was like, ‘Huh?’ And then I threw it, and it was pretty good. It was really weird to throw it from that far, but yeah. You might have to ask him.
“Even he was like, ‘I didn’t really throw a changeup but this is what I’ve learned.’ Alright, I’ll trust you.”
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