Major League Baseball

A Contagious Start Ahead for the Phillies

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:29 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Fansided, Tal Venada/FanSided via Call to the Pen

With a Relief Corps Behind Him, Hellickson Is Raring To Go on Opening Day. Photo by Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports.

With high fives after their first victory for 2017, the leadoff man, the cleanup hitter, the starter and the closer will look forward to the rest of the schedule with hope for the Philadelphia Phillies.

April's Time Capsule:

If you can exceed the expectations of your toughest critic – you  –  your future will be a clean slate to fill with new challenges.

During the first month of the campaign, most players are fresh and healthy. Jeremy Hellickson and Jerad Eickhoff will pick up where they left off in September: The skipper trusts both hurlers to pitch into the seventh inning, and they are reliable. On the bottom two rungs of the rotation, Vince Velasquez and Aaron Nola will have victories and growing pains, but both will again open the season with solid starts in April. And what is Clay Buchholz? A wild card!

As the game continues into the sixth frame, manager Pete Mackanin and pitching coach Bob McClure will closely monitor Eickhoff's pitch count: The cutoff in the early contests is 100 max. And the brain trust will carefully consider their bullpen options and the stats of the upcoming batters versus their available relievers. Soon, McClure will ring the pen for Pat Neshek or Joaquin Benoit to warm up. Tell Neshek he's got the seventh.

If a club doesn't have a relief corps preserving their advantages, it demoralizes the starters and the offense, especially if they just made a comeback to tie or take a lead. In other words, Mackanin named Jeanmar Gomez the closer because he proved they could count on him. Both he and Hector Neris ran out of gas in September because the weekly stress of high-leverage innings and a heavy workload caught up to them. Therefore, because Gomez and Neris had realized the newly experienced demands of the roles they've earned, they prepared during the offseason.

WHAT TO EXPECT: 11/23/16: REVISITED     

Right:

Eickhoff will be slotting second behind Hellickson at the front of the rotation on April 5.

Unforeseen event:

Both recovery from knee surgery and the Buchholz trade stopped Eflin from making the team.

WHAT TO EXPECT: 3/31/17  

Next: The Offense

Scoring Runs Are in Herrera's Plans. Photo by Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports.

In their new-look lineup, the Phillies have Howie Kendrick (2), Odubel Herrera (3), Maikel Franco (4), Michael Saunders (5) and Tommy Joseph (6). And the first six spots in the order will alternately bat left and right, which is a benefit during the final frames with the outcome on the line and a headache for the opposing manager's ability to deploy his relievers effectively. Meanwhile, proving themselves is important to Kendrick with a .290 average again and Saunders with the stamina for six months instead of only four. And Kendrick and Saunders will also lead by example with professional at-bats.

Playing as a team with passion and emotion outweighs some lack of experience and some differential of talent against contenders. In other words, they've done this before: the second half of 2015 and the first two months of last summer. Firstly, until Franco suffered a wrist injury during his first at-bat on August 11, the Philadelphia Phillies had a 15-7 record after the All-Star break; and the third baseman was beginning to hit again. And last year, the red pinstripes went 22-12 after the pen struggled in Cincinnati.

THE CALL FOR APRIL:      

13-11  or two games over .500        

After redeeming themselves for last April's sweep at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, the Phils will return to cheers from their baseball-hungry fans. Yes, the locals will take the field at the friendly confines with the booming PA announcements of their names, the walk-up music and the chirping from both dugouts on every borderline pitch. That was low! Might have been outside! And after eight nail-biting innings are on the scoreboard, the bullpen door opens. Mounting tension! Finally, Gomez induces a ground out for the save.

CORRECTION:  

Regarding "Big Roster Test for Phillies GM" published on March 26, Luis Garcia is not out of options. Apparently, Garcia is still on his third option through April 9: It didn't end with the start of spring training.

If You're Expecting September's Gomez, Disappointment Is in Your April Forecast. Photo by Kim Klement – USA TODAY Sports.

The Numerical Bible:

This review is not a sabermetrics article, which means no heavy statistical analysis. But because some readers rely on stats, this is only a reference: no reason to articulate the importance of these numbers.

* He had 21 starts.

The Rotation:

The Bullpen's Back End:

The Lineup:

Next: Breaking Down Pre-Breakout Phillies

More from Call to the Pen

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Major League Baseball

Philadelphia Phillies