Phillies 2017 season grades: Starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff
After a respectable first full season with the Phillies in 2016, Jerad Eickhoff took a step back this year. Below is his grade for the year.
2016 was a fairly good season for Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff. He finished with a record of 11-14. Eickhoff had a 3.65 ERA and racked up 167 strikeouts, ranking 18th in the National League.
However, a big struggle of Eickhoff’s in 2016 was giving up the long ball. He ranked second to last in the National League after allowing 30 home runs in 2016.
Many were hoping for a step forward from the young righty in 2017. Eickhoff cut down on the home runs, allowing 16, but this stat is skewed by the fact that he pitched 9 fewer games than in 2016.
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Even given this fact, it is safe to assume if Eickhoff was able to finish the season, his number of home runs allowed would be less than last season. This notion is evident in his HR/9 which dropped from 1.92 to 1.13 in 2017. His home run to fly ball rate also dropped from 13.1 percent to 10.2 percent.
While that was a positive, Eickhoff took a step back in most categories in 2017.
He did not look like as promising of a pitcher as he did just a year prior. He finished with an ERA of 4.71, 118 strikeouts, and a 4-8 record.
Despite fewer strikeouts overall, Eickhoff’s K/9 was better in 2017, improving to 8.30 after having a K/9 of 7.62 in 2016.
Control was where he saw a major step in the wrong direction, allowing 53 walks in 2017. This was 11 more walks then all of 2016, and the number went up despite pitching in 69 fewer innings. This jumped his BB/9 from 1.37 in 2017, to 3.73 in 2017.
In terms of fWAR, Eickhoff also saw that dip from 2.9 in 2016 to 1.9 in 2017.
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Injuries also nagged Eickhoff throughout the season, landing on the disabled list twice. The second stint would be a 60 day DL stint ending his season after an MRI was taken due to right hand numbness.
It is possible that the early shutdown could be what Eickhoff needs to rebound in 2018.
Former manager Pete Mackanin compared this early shut down of Eickhoff to the early shut down of Aaron Nola in 2016, stating: [quote via Matt Breen of Philly.com]
“We did it with Nola last year and backed off on him. Then he came back in a blaze of glory,… He’s been a different guy since. Sometimes that’s what happens. You have to back off of a guy, especially a younger guy. A first,[or] second-year pitcher takes some time.”
Only time will tell if the early shut down has the same effect on Eickhoff that it had on Nola.
C-. . SP. Philadelphia Phillies. JERAD EICKHOFF
Given his regression in 2017, Jerad Eickhoff’s grade is a C-.
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Eickhoff looked to be a fixture in the Phillies rotation moving forward in their rebuild, however with the major steps back, and nagging injuries, it is no longer certain that he will have a rotation spot guaranteed in 2018.