Phillies: Rotation’s motivations or mysteries

Four-man competition:             

When the season began, the Phillies had four starters and hoped one would advance to be their third hurler behind Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta. So far, Eflin has! But a moundsman with only one above-average pitch or lacking command becomes a role-appropriate reliever. (MLB’s expectation is 70 percent accuracy.)

Despite the all-hands effort in the pen, Velasquez could be more valuable in the staff’s four slot. Basically, he only has to be a serviceable arm, not an ace. He began with four good performances followed by two poor ones before going on the IL, but he had produced solid results from May 5 through Aug. 4 last summer.

During those months, he was 7-4 with a 3.12 ERA for 15 starts: 83 2/3 innings. In fact, he went 6 1/3 frames or more seven times and six innings twice: nine out of 15. Unfortunately, he had fired 113 2/3 frames through Aug. 4 after 72 innings in 2017, so his final 33 frames were probably fatigue-related attempts.

Entering spring training, the Fightins were managing Velasquez’s workload because they didn’t expect him to be effective for 200 innings. They are bringing him along slowly, gave him more IL time, and have him relieving. In other words, they want him being a productive starter through September. Playoffs in the bullpen?

As for Pivetta’s 2018, he went 4-3 with a 3.26 ERA through May but 3-11 with a 5.60 ERA thereafter. Perhaps, his confidence eroded because of too many doubts. But if he ever controls his stuff, he’ll be dominate.

Unfortunately, the flamethrower hasn’t improved his command with the Allentown affiliate either. In his four Philly appearances, he had 7.85 strikeouts and 3.93 walks per nine frames. But his MiLB numbers were 12.16 punch outs and 4.86 free passes for nine innings. One or two bases on balls per game it isn’t.