Eickhoff leaves early with tingling in his arm
PHILADELPHIA » Pete Mackanin was perturbed in the dugout to see Jerad Eickhoff’s fastball topping out in the high 80s Wednesday.
But it wasn’t until six runs had scored and Eickhoff signaled for the trainer in the third that the concern really elevated.
Eickhoff exited after six outs of what became a 9-1 loss to Atlanta in Game 1 of a doubleheader with “nerve irritation in his right hand,” according to the team.
“I felt it in that third inning there, felt tingling in my hand and a numbness or weakness in it,” Eickhoff said. “I couldn’t exactly feel the baseball.”
“We looked at it, but he said he felt fine,” Mackanin said. “Then all of a sudden he mentioned it to someone. I don’t know when he did it, but it came out of nowhere.”
Eickhoff topped 90 miles per hour just twice in 44 deliveries, per MLB. com. Freddie Freeman walloped an 87.9 mph fastball for a two-run homer to the second deck in right field in the first inning. Freeman (on a slider) and Nick Markakis (on an 87.9 mph four-seamer) doubled to start the third, ending Eickhoff’s day despite what he called a normal pregame bullpen session.
Of the six hits allowed, two each came via the slider, curveball and fastball. They included an RBI single for Brandon Phillips in the first, the second baseman’s 2,000th career hit.
Declining velocity has been an ongoing concern with Eickhoff, who had a string of four straight decisions won snapped. Eickhoff, though, declined to blame any longterm struggles on Wednesday’s ailment, which was a new experience for him. His fastball generally sits in the low 90s, hitting 94. But he’s been living in the high 80s in recent weeks, and his stuff Wednesday resided in the 86-88 range. That allowed the Braves to tee off and diminished the contrast with his plus breaking pitching.
“There were a couple of pitches when I looked up there, it was 86, 87,” Eickhoff said. “That’s not normal.”
“We’ve seen it before where his velocity isn’t where we wanted it to be,” Mackanin said. “We’ve had our conversations about, what do you think it is, too many weights, whatever it may be. I don’t know.”
The bullpen limited the damage, thanks in large part to three scoreless innings from rookie Yacksel Rios, though Jesen Therrien struggled in the immediate aftermath of Eickhoff’s departure.
The Phillies rotation is beset by injuries. Vince Velasquez’s season is over thanks to circulation issues in his arm. Zach Eflin is on the disabled list, though his shoulder strain is seen as a short-term concern.
But the immediate worry is if Eickhoff will pitch again this season, his second full campaign in the bigs in which he hasn’t taken steps forward from a promising 11-win season. A DL stint, Mackanin said, is likely, but Eickhoff doesn’t want to see this end his season.
“It’s really frustrating,” he said. “You prepare your body to do this all offseason and you treat your body like I do and work like I do, it’s just frustrating to get this result. … You’ve just got to take it in stride. I’ve done everything I can control.”
*** From the former (sort of) lies file: Ender Inciarte had self a day Wednesday.
Inciarte reached base in his first seven plate appearances with five singles, a triple and a walk. He finished 8-for-10 with five RBIs and two runs scored. Game 1 marked his third career five-hit game, all this season.
Inciarte was picked by the Phillies in the 2012 Rule 5 Draft from Arizona. But he was returned April 4, 2013, to make room for Ezequiel Carrera.
Carrera had one hit in 16 plate appearances over 13 games for the Philhim- 2013 Phillies before he was waived. He’s become a regular in Toronto, where he’s hitting .300 in 106 games this season.
Inciarte, meanwhile, is an AllStar and Gold Glove centerfielder, who wreaked havoc Wednesday. He was 3-for-3 in the day’s first three innings, plating two with a single in the third inning. He added an RBI single in the fifth, then tripled in the seventh of Game 1.
He singled on Mark Leiter Jr.’s first pitch of Game 2, scoring on a Matt Kemp double, then drove in the third run with an RBI single in the fourth inning.
*** NOTES » Rhys Hoskins singled to lead off the seventh inning of Game 1 and scored the Phillies only run. He singled in the nightcap to extend his hitting streak to 12 games, the first rookie with a 12-game hitting streak in the first month of a Phillies career since Chuck Klein in 1928. … Jorge Alfaro singled twice in Game 1, including the base knock to plate Hoskins. The catcher has reached safely in all 12 games this season, five multi-hit outings. … Hoby Milner worked two-thirds of an inning in Game 2, his 14th straight scoreless appearance. His ERA drops to 2.18. … R.A. Dickey threw eight strong innings in the opener, tying a seasonhigh with nine strikeouts. He and Game 2 starter Julio Teheran (over 6.2 innings) combined to strike out 19. Twenty-one Phillies whiffed on the day. … The first two pitches David Freitas saw in his MLB debut were eventful. He was robbed of a hit in Game 2 by Nick Williams’ diving catch in right field. Then he doubled to center in his second at-bat, firstpitch hacking again, to drive in a run before scoring on an Inciarte single. ... The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak against the Braves.