Rookie Suarez to start Thursday, rehabbing Eickhoff can only travel
PHILADELPHIA » Not that anybody’s worried about the Phillies’ starting pitching or anything, especially on a night when Aaron Nola was on the mound at Citizens Bank Park.
But despite manager Gabe Kapler’s always upbeat daily briefings and general manager Matt Klentak’s declaration Friday that he didn’t want to, nor did he necessarily need to trade for a starting pitcher ... the Phillies need another starting pitcher.
That growing suspicion blossomed into what should be an obvious talking point for the next week leading up to next Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline.
Klentak has addressed various needs he’d like to fill, but concluded in his last significant mass beat-media interview Friday that “we’re hopeful ... that we can stay out of the starting pitcher trade market at the deadline because, if you can avoid it, that is definitely a market to avoid.”
That said, Klentak also said in that same interview, “If there’s a chance someday to trade for a lefty or sign a lefty free agent and it fits for us, then we’ll look into it. We’d love for that to be the case but we’re not going to force it.”
Of course, there are lefthanded starters available, even if the prospect of bringing back either/or of former Phils Cole Hamels — who was lit up by the A’s Monday — and similarly struggling J.A. Happ might be more sentimental than smart. But clearly the Phils need a lefty starter, and their two National League East rivals, the Braves and Nationals, are said to be in the pursuit for those two veteran pitchers.
Either way, the call for help seems a little more urgent now, since Kapler admitted he isn’t counting on Jerad Eickhoff to finally return to the starting rotation.
Out all year with a lat strain and recurrences of tingling in his fingers, Eickhoff will soon head to Clearwater, Fla., where he plans to first pitch live batting practice then eventually a rehab outing or two for the Class A Threshers.
But as he continues to rehab into August, Klentak won’t talk about Eickhoff as part of the latter-season plans for the rotation.
“I think it’s like, ‘Let’s get him as confident as he can be on the mound,’” Kapler said. “We’re probably not looking beyond, just feeling good and being healthy and then making plans, because that’s really the first step. Before we can even make plans he’s got to be capable of contributing.
“We just want Jerad Eickhoff to be healthy and that’s the only thing we’re thinking about.”
Meanwhile, Nick Pivetta continues to struggle, the bullpen needs a long reliever and the two-year need for a lefty starter just hit a crossroads.
Kapler said he’s bringing up Ranger Suarez of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs to make his major-league debut Thursday in Cincinnati.
Suarez, 22, becomes the first Phillie to act as a lefty starter since Adam Morgan last pretended to be one late in the 2016 season.
Suarez, an international signing out of Venezuela in 2012, went 4-3 with a 2.76 ERA at Double-A Reading, then 1-0 with an 0.57 in three starts for the Pigs.
“He’s shown the ability to get swings and misses in and out of the strike zone,” Kapler said. “He’s got a very good sinker, incredible demeanor. We saw it in spring training. We have a lot of confidence in him, and we believe he has a lot of confidence in himself.”
As for Klentak, he admitted Friday he may contemplate hunting for a lefty starter via trade “at some point.”
“I often talk about balance in everything, so creating a balanced rotation, I would love for that to include a lefty,” Klentak said. “But when you have five righties rolling out there that are giving us a chance to win every night, many of whom are continuing to get better and are under team control for a long time, we’re not going to force it if it’s not there.”
To that end, Suarez’s appointment is likely only temporary, as the recent rainwashed schedule forced the Phillies to bring another starter up. They also recalled long-man reliever Drew Anderson from the Pigs Tuesday while sending back-end bullpen guy Yacksel Rios back down.