Phillies-Giants: Five things to watch for during the series
The worst month in the history of baseball is over for the Phillies
Coming off a month where the Phillies won only six games it’s time to see who can truly be a piece of the future. That effort continues Friday as the San Francisco Giants, sans fan-favorite Hunter Pence.
The question surrounding the team entering the weekend series are endless: who fills the two spots in the rotation, can Odubel Herrera not swing at every pitch, can the manager wake up his players.
Whether or not all three of those storylines plays out correctly is to be seen, although it’s unlikely we see Herrera work a pitch count anytime soon.
For those reasons, most Phillies fans are out on the season. For those still in on seeing some young players work through their struggles, here are five things to look for during the weekend series against San Francisco.
Phillies success versus the Giants pitching staff
Not often can you say the Phillies should have the upper-hand against an opposing pitcher, something that was evident during the Marlins series.
Ty Blach will make his 19th career appearance as a major league pitcher, which likely means the Phillies could get a perfect game thrown their way. Blach’s never faced a member of the Phillies roster, which spells for an interesting matchup Friday night.
Saturday features ace Johnny Cueto, who’s been anything but against Philadelphia in his long career. In six starts Cueto owns a 5.57 ERA inside Citizens Bank Park, the majority of those starts coming as a Cincinnati Red. The righty has allowed 22 runs and six home runs in 32 innings pitched at The Bank and could falter once again on Saturday.
Odubel Herrera could be the most excited player to see Cueto take the mound, as he managed a triple and a home run against the $130 million pitcher in his 10 appearances.
Sunday’s matinee between former Rays teammates Jeremy Hellickson and Matt Moore could be a slugfest if the bats are ripe. Moore has a 5.06 ERA during two starts inside Citizens Bank Park as a member of the Rays.
Five Phillies starters have batting averages above .500 against Moore, most notably Michael Saunders and Howie Kendrick.
The two outfielders are a combined 10-28 against Moore in their careers with a handful of extra-base hits in those appearances. Meanwhile, Herrera, Cesar Hernandez, Maikel Franco, and Aaron Altherr are a combined 5-14.
San Francisco has searched for their starting corner outfielders for years, and they hope the former eighth-round draft pick can be one of those guys. Former Phillie Hunter Pence landing on the disabled list with a hamstring and the Giants sitting at 22-33 prompted the organization to call upon their 17th overall prospect Austin Slater.
Slater is projected to start in right field against the Phillies at some point this weekend.
The Phillies passed on Slater in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB Draft, instead going with high school pitcher Sam McWilliams, who’s no longer with the organization.
In 46 games for Triple-A Sacramento this year Slater hit .322 with 16 extra-base hits while producing an OPS of .841.
Slater will be a relative unknown in the series, which could play into the Phillies hands. They’ll either be able to dominate the inexperienced 24-year-old and take advantage of his early butterflies, or he’ll bring something they didn’t expect.
Knowing this current team, I’d expect the later.
Another pitcher hit the disabled list as Vince Velasquez suffered an elbow flexor strain in his start Wednesday. The team called up Ricardo Pinto to fill Velasquez’s spot on the roster, but it seems like he is going to stay in the bullpen.
Someone has to take Velasquez’s spot in the rotation when his next scheduled start rolls around Saturday. Zach Eflin just went back down to Triple-A after a rough outing Sunday and is slated to start for the IronPigs Friday night.
Nick Pivetta’s next turn in the rotation does come on Saturday, but he is listed as Lehigh Valley’s probable starter for the night. He showed in his brief stint in the majors that he needs more time at Triple-A before he can come back.
That leaves Ben Lively open to make his major-league debut Saturday. His last start was last Saturday and he wasn’t on the mound Thursday for his next scheduled start. All signs are pointing towards Lively for the start.
Lively has been off to a solid start with the IronPigs with a 6-1 record, 2.40 ERA, and 0.94 WHIP in nine starts. The 25-year old has 45 strikeouts and seven walks in 56.1 innings this season. We will have to see if Lively can bring that success to the next level.
Odubel Herrera has been unable to find himself at the plate this season as his batting average continues to plummet this season. With 50 games under his belt, Herrera has a .218/.262/.326 slash line. He has no plate discipline and just isn’t the same player the team signed a five-year extension with during the offseason.
Manager Pete Mackanin benched Herrera for two games during the Marlins series to ease his mind and think over his struggles. The hope is that this benching will help him turn his performance at the plate around.
Herrera pinch-hit in the second game of the series and hit a sacrifice fly. He was back in the lineup Wednesday hitting seventh. He went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in the team’s 10-2 loss.
Herrera will likely be in the lineup for all three games when the Giants come into town this weekend and we will really get to see if this benching is what Herrera needed to get back on track.
Jerad Eickhoff will face the Giants for the first time in his career Friday night. He has faced just one player on their roster, Aaron Hill. Hill is just 1-for-5 in his career against Eickhoff, but that one hit was a double and he also has two RBI.
Eickhoff is coming off a rather pedestrian start against the Marlins, giving up eight hits and three runs in 5.1 innings. His ERA for the season stands at 4.74 with an 0-5 record. He has given up three runs or more in each of his last six starts.
Next: Three Reasons the Phillies Fell Apart in May
Eickhoff hasn’t been able to find success on the mound, especially in the last month. He was expected to be the team’s consistent workhorse this year, but that hasn’t been the case. Eickhoff has a blank slate with the Giants, so he has the chance to start fresh with a solid start and maybe even get his first win of the season.
Wouldn’t that be something.