Money-Year Phillies
By Tal Venada
As you sip your cold brew at a table near the bar, you wonder about the short-term setbacks for right-handers Jake Thompson and Zach Eflin: One or both could be in the Phils’ rotation in July. You know both will probably open ’17 on the disabled list for a week or two because they’re behind the other starters. And while Thompson’s wrist is improving, Eflin’s knees are gradually recovering from the strain of spring training activity. Yes, both are facing live batters, which means an additional 10 days in 2017 before joining the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Fighting his way back to respectability, Jeremy Hellickson has thrived as the head of the staff: A role he relishes. In fact, the responsibility has made him improve his craft because he can’t take the shellings and have the respect of the youngsters. But if he has the stability he did in 2016, he won’t have a QO to hamper him on the open market. He might even receive multi-campaign offers of $17 million annually.
Pitching for 2015:
- Hellickson: 27 Gms., 146 Inn., 9-12, a 4.62 ERA, a 0.8 fWAR and a 1.15 WHIP.
- Morton: 23 Gms., 129 Inn., 9-9, a 4.81 ERA, a 0.9 fWAR and a 1.38 WHIP.
Pitching for 2016:
- Hellickson, 23 Gms., 189 Inn., 12-10, a 3.71 ERA, a 3.2 fWAR and a 1.15 WHIP.
According to Klentak, he expects 50 percent of his salary-dump acquisitions and free agent signings to bear fruit. But below-average performance was not the reason for Charlie Morton‘s half of that equation: He had an injury.