That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies core in place, pitching is most pressing need moving forward

By Kerry Kauffman

PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 12: Starting pitcher Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch in the first inning during a game against the against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on August 12, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 12: Starting pitcher Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch in the first inning during a game against the against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on August 12, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Phillies appear to have a solid core in place, but pitching is a necessity as the team moves into 2018 and beyond.

The Philadelphia Phillies have clearly taken a step back this season after showing modest improvement from 2015 to 2016. One area of promise is the core of Cesar Hernandez, Aaron Altherr, Nick Williams and Rhys Hoskins, among others.

The glaring weakness has been the pitching staff, with Aaron Nola as the only one with a chance at becoming a legitimate ace. How can the team improve moving forward?

Before addressing this weakness, I’ll look at the potential strength heading into next season. Hernandez has become a very solid lead off hitter, batting .290 with a .356 on-base percentage and 13 stolen bases in 16 attempts.  Freddy Galvis has thrived batting second and is putting together a good one-two punch with Hernandez.

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This leads to the middle of the order, which could be very good for years to come. Altherr had a .285 average and .894 OPS before going down with injury. Williams is batting .282 with a .827 OPS and Hoskins has hit 11 home runs in his first 18 Major League games. While he’s certain to cool off, clearly has big-time, major-league power. Maikel Franco still has time to turn it around and be a big part of the mix.

Heading back to the pitching staff, it all starts with Nola. He’s shown great promise after a relatively mediocre start this season. All told, he’s 9-9 with a 3.58 ERA, 135 strikeouts and only 40 walks.

Besides Nola, no other starter has an ERA under 4.00. Jerad Eickhoff should be in the mix next year with an ERA of 4.36 and 117 strikeouts this season. After Eickhoff, the combination of Vince Velasquez, Ben Lively, Zach Eflin and Nick Pivetta are a combined 8-26 with a 5.75 ERA.

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So with only one or possibly two pieces of the rotation in place for next year, what can Philadelphia do? Certainly there is time for the rest of the rotation to improve since the team is nowhere close to contention next season. But one cannot put their faith into any of those being long term solutions. There is always free agency and perhaps trading Tommy Joseph or another asset could land a top prospect of middle-of-the-rotation quality.

On the farm, Mark Appel is pitching to a 5.27 ERA, so he appears to be some time away from being a solid Major League starter.

One ray of hope could be Brandon Leibrandt, a 24-year old who has nearly a strikeout per inning at Lehigh Valley with a decent 4.01 ERA. Tom Eshelman is having a strong campaign this year as well with a 2.37 ERA in 17 Triple-A starts at just 23 years old. Pitching prospects further down the line like Sixto Sanchez, Adonis Medina, Franklyn Kilome, and others could also play a role in the future.

Next: 5 things to look forward to next season

With the off season just a little over a month away, it’s not too early to speculate what the Phillies will do with the staff. One thing is certain. For the Philadelphia Phillies to make any significant improvement next season, numerous new faces should be on the pitching staff in 2018.

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