CLEARWATER, Fla. — While the rest of the Phillies’ starting pitchers have been getting innings in Grapefruit League games this month, Jerad Eickhoff has been working in the controlled environment of the minor-league complex.
Eickhoff suffered a fractured right thumb while doing a bunting drill the week before camp opened then had a bothersome blister on a toe. Neither of these problems has seriously impacted the 25-year-old right-hander’s readiness for the season. He proved that by throwing 74 pitches in his first Grapefruit League start Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins.
Eickhoff had some rough edges. He allowed three runs, two on homers, in four innings, but was generally satisfied with his progress with two more starts to go before the season starts.
“It was good to get the adrenaline going again in a game setting,” he said.
The adrenaline might have affected Eickhoff’s fastball command. It was off. He gave up a pair of homers to aggressive lefty swinger Daniel Palka. Eickhoff showed a good breaking ball and an improved changeup.
“He was rusty, but he threw a lot of good curveballs,” manager Pete Mackanin said. “He made a few bad pitches, but in general, he made a lot of good ones. That curveball is still a very impressive pitch for him. I'm real happy to see what he did today.
“His project over the winter was to develop his change-up. He threw some really good, excellent change-ups today, which was very impressive.”
MLB
Eickhoff said he has no phobias against bunting after his early-camp mishap. Despite this, he appeared to miss a bunt sign in the second inning with runners on the corners. He ended up driving in a run on a groundout.
“If I had to bunt, I had to bunt, but they didn’t ask me,” Eickhoff said.
Um.
“That was a miscommunication,” Mackanin said. “Let's put it that way.”
The game
The Phillies lost, 7-5. They are 14-6-2 on the spring.
For the third time in four games, the Phils converted a squeeze bunt for a run. Two of them have been suicide squeezes, including this one, successfully executed by infielder Angelys Nina in the sixth inning. It scored Emmanuel Burris from third after he had tripled.
Earlier during morning workouts, the Phillies worked extensively on squeeze plays.
“It's something we have to do,” Mackanin said. “We can't go toe to toe with the Blue Jays. We don't have the pop that they do. But we can manufacture runs. We've been working hard at it. It's paying off for the most part.”
Non-roster player David Lough, a candidate to win a job in the outfield, had two hits to raise his spring average to .344 (11 for 32).
Bullpen battle
Ernesto Frieri pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.
Lefty James Russell looked good in the sixth inning. He got a pop out and two strikeouts to pitch over a pair of infield errors.
Andrew Bailey’s strong spring suffered a blemish. He allowed four hits and three runs to take the loss. The hits were not scorched. One was a bunt, one was a ground ball and one was a soft liner.
Mackanin said Bailey was “probably the frontrunner” to be the closer, but added that he wants to see more velocity from the right-hander. Bailey’s fastball was 88 to 91 mph in the game.
“I want to see more velocity out of him,” Mackanin said. “I didn't see the velocity. I know last year he had better velocity. There is still spring left. I'd like to see a little more velocity, but I know he can pitch. He's a true competitor. He has that good curveball and cutter. But I want to see more velocity.”
Up next
The Phillies play the Astros in Kissimmee at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night. Charlie Morton will start against Michael Feliz.