CLEARWATER, Fla. – A little before 9 o’clock on Thursday morning, Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin and Mark Appel slung red equipment bags over their shoulders and headed out of the Phillies' clubhouse door.
When will they return?
That’s a question that will impact the team’s rebuild.
Thompson, Eflin and Appel are the Phillies’ top three starting pitching prospects, all acquired in trades over the last 15 months that have coincided with the team’s efforts to get younger and gear toward the future. They were in big-league camp to gain some experience, get a feel for the environment and give team officials a chance to gauge what could be on the way. All three will start the season in a prospect-studded Triple A Lehigh Valley rotation and, if all goes well in the development process, could start arriving in the majors later this season, a three-pronged addition to a pitching foundation being built around Aaron Nola.
“I think deep down we all kind of see that and think about that,” Appel said. “The three of us have played against each other at different levels of the minor leagues, and now we’re all on the same team and we see each other’s talent and we get excited about it. We’re becoming good friends. I’m looking forward to getting to know them a lot better and playing with them and developing that friendship. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun.”
A hint of a smile crossed Thompson’s face when the possibility of the trio rising to majors together was mentioned.
“I think that’s the idea,” he said. “Obviously, things happen and people pan out and people don’t. But hopefully, I think, the Phillies are definitely building their team that way, not just with pitchers, but with some of the young position players, too. Hopefully, we’ll all get up at the same time and play for 10 years. That’s how it’s supposed to work.”
MLB
Phillies manager Pete Mackanin spoke with all three pitchers before they were sent to minor-league camp. He was impressed with all of them during their three weeks on the big-league side.
“They were outstanding,” Mackanin said. “We let them know there's a good chance they will be a big part of the future. They need to get stretched out so they can start pitching. I've seen enough to like all three of them.”
Mackanin added that it was “a good possibility” all three could see time in the majors this season.
Thompson, 22, was acquired along with five other prospects in the trade that sent Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman to Texas in July. One of the other pitchers in that deal, Jerad Eickhoff, pitched well in eight starts with the Phillies last season and projects to be in the rotation in April.
Appel, 24, came over from Houston as part of the Ken Giles trade in December. The former first-overall pick in the 2013 draft has mostly made a name for himself by not reaching the expectations that accompanied that lofty draft spot. The Phillies hope a fresh start unlocks his potential.
Eflin, who turns 22 in April, was the first addition to the Phillies' rebuild, coming over in the December 2014 trade that sent Jimmy Rollins to the Dodgers.
The trio of right-handers left big-league camp on a high note. They pitched in the same game Wednesday and combined on eight innings of six-strikeout, walk-free ball in a 4-2 win over the Twins in Fort Myers. They allowed just two runs, one of which was unearned.
“I think we all threw well and had a lot of fun out there,” Eflin said. “We may have overthought the first outing. The second outing, we were all comfortable and threw strikes.”
In their first starts, Eflin and Appel combined to walk six.
“I think [Wednesday] was really good for me, Jake and Zach,” Appel said. “We’re going to get ready for the season and we’re all going to work hard to get back here soon.”
Their performances will dictate how soon they get back. It always does. But there will be opportunities in the rotation. Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton can both be free agents after the season and could be trade candidates sooner than that.
“I know we have a lot of work to do,” Eflin said. “But it would be a lot of fun to get back up here together. It would be incredible.”