In the past two weeks, I’ve attended a couple of Philadelphia Phillies games. Between that time, I’ve followed them all this season. Usually, I’m still into the National Hockey League playoffs, regardless if the Philadelphia Flyers are still playing or not, but watching the Phillies this year has been nothing short of captivating. In the first game I attended, I mentioned in a previous article, Aaron Nola got the start against the Washington Nationals where the Phillies led all the way until the bottom of the ninth with two outs and two strikes.
The Nationals did end up winning the game in extra innings, 10-6. On Tuesday, I attended the Phillies game against the New York Mets when Nick Pivetta took the mound with a start. Pivetta got the win on Tuesday, but the real story regarding the pitching was the return of Jerad Eickhoff. This much is evident due to Pivetta being sent back down to the minors and Eickhoff returning back to the starting rotation as of April 17th, 2019. Pivetta had a lot of the pressure relieved off of him in the bottom of the first inning when the Phillies were up 10-0, but ultimately Eickhoff was welcomed back after four innings of solid pitching.
The Phillies got the redemption win by a score of 14-3 before completing the series win earlier on Wednesday with Jake Arrieta on the mound in a 3-2 win. However, two pitchers I’ve yet to mention are Zach Eflin and Vince Velasquez. Eflin hasn’t been the most consistent in the rotation, but I do think that his best performance was on April 2nd, 2019 against the Nationals when he pitched just five innings, allowed no earned runs, and struck out nine. Velasquez has yet to notch a decision this season, but has lasted longer in each outing, pitching six innings most recently against the Miami Marlins. Overall, these are my thoughts on the starting pitchers this far into the 2019 season for the Phillies:
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Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
