CLEARWATER, Fla. — Less than two weeks before opening day, the Phillies have six starting pitchers for five slots.
“It’s a pretty good problem to have,” pitching coach Bob McClure said Tuesday.
McClure said the team is considering several options in finalizing its rotation. One of them is keeping all six pitchers and going with a six-man rotation.
“It’s not out of the question,” McClure said. “We’ve talked briefly about it, not at length, but it was briefly tossed around. We haven’t come to a conclusion yet, but it could be an option.”
Jeremy Hellickson, Aaron Nola and Charlie Morton are locks to be in the rotation, and Jerad Eickhoff has recovered from his fractured right thumb — he threw 74 pitches Tuesday — to the point where he’s pretty much set to go (see story).
That leaves one spot and two remaining candidates — Vince Velasquez and Adam Morgan. Both have pitched well in camp.
Sending one of the pitchers to Triple A probably remains the most likely solution, but the Phils have at least considered keeping both and going with a deeper staff.
MLB
The downside of a six-man staff is it shortens a team’s bench and that can make life tough on a manager in the National League.
Velasquez pitched 5⅔ innings and gave up three runs (one earned) in a minor-league start against the Pirates on Tuesday. He walked one, hit a batter and struck out five. He threw 92 pitches.
Morgan pitches Thursday night against the Braves at Disney World.