Phillies: Rotation surprises in 2020, 2008, 1980

Bottom rung:         

Even though many Phillies fans expect a mid-rotation piece in the five slot, organizations –if they’re lucky– have an innings eater. Ergo, an 18-out pitcher with a 4.50 ERA is ideal, but many contending teams don’t have that luxury. How about Owens and Gillick?

Phillies five-slot starters:

• 1980: Walk, 23: 27 Gms., 151 2/3 Inn., 11-7, a 4.57 ERA, a 2.0 fWAR and a 1.54 WHIP.
• 2008:
• Eaton, 30: 21 Gms. (2 relief), 107 Inn., 4-8, a 5.80 ERA, a 0.5 fWAR and a 1.64 WHIP.
  Blanton, 28: 33 Gms., 197 2/3 Inn., 9-12, a 4.69 ERA, a 1.9 fWAR and a 1.40 WHIP.
• 2019:
• Velasquez, 27.5: 33 Gms. (10 relief), 117 1/3 Inn., 7-8, a 4.91 ERA, a 0.6 fWAR and a 1.39 WHIP.
  *Suarez 24.5: 27 Gms., 39 Inn., a 3.69 ERA, 3 Holds, a 0.1 fWAR and a 1.36 WHIP.
  *All relief appearances.

As you can see by Walk’s numbers, he delivered 150 frames with a  4.57 ERA. Plus Owens rookie also worked into the eighth inning of Game 1 of the 1980 World Series and got the champs off to a triumphant start after the NLCS against the Houston Astros included five compelling battles.

For the 2008 champs, Gillick began with Eaton as the fifth hurler. And he went 4-8 with a 5.80 ERA: his lowest ERA for two summers with the red pinstripes. In late July, though, Joe Blanton had replaced Eaton and went 4-0 in 13 starts with a 4.02 ERA for 70 2/3 innings.

Starting-wise, Velasquez was 6-7 with a 4.96 ERA, and he worked five frames or more 13 times. But he recorded at least one sixth-inning out in five opportunities; however, Gabe Kapler had a quick hook at trouble’s first sign. That stated, he had longer appearances in 2018 because Kapler wasn’t under playoff-making pressure.

While the faithful clamor for Velasquez to be a reliever, left-hander Ranger Suarez may get another look this March because he only had six poor showings out of 37: His 83.3 percent rate was excellent. And being a portsider may be an advantage on an otherwise right-handed starting staff.