Phillies giving Jerad Eickhoff time to shine with Nick Pivetta option

The Phillies are sending Nick Pivetta back to the minor leagues, giving Jerad Eickhoff time to shine in the starting rotation.

Todd Zolekci of MLB.com reported that the Phillies have officially optioned Nick Pivetta to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Matt Gelb of the Athletic previously reported that the team would option Pivetta and move Jerad Eickhoff into the rotation in his place.

The move comes after Eickhoff tossed four scoreless innings of relief in Tuesday night’s win against the Mets. It was his first game of the season after starting the year in the Triple-A rotation.

Pivetta was a favorite breakout pick coming into the year, but he hasn’t even looked like a capable major-league starter. He will now have to recapture what gave him so much success early on last year.

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In four starts so far this year, Pivetta has an 8.35 ERA, 6.41 fielding-independent pitching, and 2.13 WHIP. His strikeout rate and swinging strike rate are both notably down from last year, leading to 31 hits, five home runs, and 18 runs scored in 18.1 innings pitched. Batters were squaring up Pivetta well as he ranked tenth in barrel rate (11.8% of plate appearances) among 203 pitchers with 25 or more batted ball events.

Meanwhile, Eickhoff will get the chance to prove why he should have been in the majors from the beginning of the year. He earned his first save of his career (in an 11-run victory) Tuesday, striking out six batters and allowing just three hits and no walks. With only one appearance, he has nearly made up for the value lost by Pivetta as Pivetta has -0.3 wins above replacement while Eickhoff now has 0.2.

The team is hoping Eickhoff can pitch as he did in 2015 and 2016 before injuries took their toll on him. In his first 41 career starts, Eickhoff had a 3.44 ERA, 120 ERA+, 1.136 WHIP, and 3.93 strikeout-to-walk ratio. At the start of the 2017 season, there was ample reason to peg Eickhoff as the mid-rotation workhorse of the future.

Thanks to Pivetta’s struggles, Eickhoff now has the opportunity to re-establish a spot in the rotation. Given the pitching struggles the club has had so far, a healthy, effective Eickhoff would be a welcome sight.