Window of Opportunity to the Phillies

On the losing end of the current battle with Morgan to be the long reliever, right-hander Alec Asher may get three Triple-A starts before Thompson and Eflin finish extended spring training. That stated, Asher produced two successful stints of four starts each with the IronPigs in ’15 and ’16. In the majors for 2015, however, the righty had a disastrous seven appearances, but then he suffered an injury and an 80-game PED suspension in 2016 before five decent performances last September. Yes, he was the third arm in the package for Hamels.

"FOOD FOR THOUGHT:           “I would change policy, bring back natural grass and nickel beer. Baseball is the belly button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you straighten out the rest of the world.” – Bill “Spaceman” Lee"

For Jonathan Papelbon from the Washington Nationals, right-hander Nick Pivetta will also have at least three outings for Lehigh Valley. Last summer, he advanced to the IronPigs due to an opening after Asher’s similar promotion to Philly. Yes, Pivetta had five solid performances for the affiliate in Allentown, but the league didn’t have enough time to catch up with him. Ergo, he might win a spot there before the International League figures him out.

To sum up, the Phillies are filling their rotation opportunities. Eickhoff, Nola, Velasquez, Eflin and Thompson are here or will be in the second half if everybody remains healthy. Meanwhile, Lively will have a three-game advantage, while Asher or Pivetta might secure a starting role due to that same head start. And what is Appel? A wild card!