A Wild Card for 2018’s Phillies Rotation
By Tal Venada
With only two starters penciled in for ’18, the front office switching Vince Velasquez to the bullpen is not feasible. He’s a moundsman with mid-90s smoke, which is now the key for GMs and managers to warrant a long look every fifth day. Currently, his numbers after coming off the DL are the third best on the five-man staff. In other words, he’ll probably have the next 162 to improve, even though the relief corps has three setup men: Hector Neris, Luis Garcia and Edubray Ramos.
Stats for his most recent performances, excluding his injury-related game:
- Velasquez, 25: 4 Gms., 21 Inn., 7 ER and 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA.
Until he proves he’s healthy next summer, right-hander Mark Appel has virtually no shot to be a Phillie on Opening Day, and no one is counting on him either. This June, another shoulder strain kiboshed him. Additionally, although he was on a good run, he either lands on the disabled list or the success is temporary. Before finishing on the DL, however, he was in seven contests for 41 innings and went 3-2 with a 2.20 ERA.
Stats for their most recent performances excluding Appel’s injury-related game:
- Appel, 26: 7 Gms., 41 Inn., 10 ER and 3-2 with a 2.20 ERA.
- Eshelman, 23: 4 Gms., 23 Inn., 12 ER and 2-1 with a 4.70 ERA for July and August.
Regarding the Rule 5 draft, righty Thomas Eshelman won’t require protection until after 2018. So, he’ll return to Triple-A in April for at least two months before a possible call-up. But last month, he was on the disabled list with a strained right hip flexor and had a disastrous return before throwing six frames of one-run ball on August 9.