Eickhoff Struggles, Phils Lose 5-1 to Sox
Jerad Eickhoff gave up on five earned runs on 11-hits in his second start of the Spring and the Phillies lost 5-1 to the Red Sox today at JetBlue Park.
Franco Hits First Double of Spring
With eight home runs, Maikel Franco has been crushing baseballs in the Florida sun. Today, he did something he has yet to do all Spring: hit a fan-interfered double on what looked like his ninth homer. In a weird small sample quirk, Franco hit his first double off of veteran Steven Wright to plate Odubel Herrera in the first to give the Phillies the lead 1-0. Herrera, who went 3-3 to raise his Spring average to .424, possesses a weird quirk of his own: no walks this Spring.
Eickhoff Gives Up Lots of Extra Base Hits
Eickhoff’s biggest downfall in today’s game was the volume of extra base hits, five in five innings, he surrendered. Eickhoff gave up doubles to Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, and Brock Holt and homers to Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts. Hector Neris held the game at 5-1 for two innings with two strikeouts while Andrew Bailey bounced back with a scoreless eighth but the Phillies couldn’t string the right combination of hits together.
The Phils had nine hits and drew three walks, including a huge three-hit day from Herrera, a two hit day for Cesar Hernandez, and a two-walk day from Peter Bourjos, but the Fightins could not find the right combination to score. Freddy Galvis went 0-5 out of the lead-off spot to drop his average to .200 while Cedric Hunter went 0-4 in one of his only “off” games this Spring. One of Hunter’s main competition to make the team out of camp, David Lough, drew a walk but went 0-2 with 2 Ks.
Amaro in the House
The former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. was on the field as the Red Sox first base coach but had media availability before the game. Let’s check in on that – maybe he’ll talk about som…
Nevermind.
Intersquad Game – Howard Ks many times.
Jake Thompson lead the Triple-A squad against a mix of Major Leaguers, Double-A folks, and a few guys playing above their level. The stand out was Matt Imhoff, the Phillies 2014 second-round pick, who lead the more-mixed team with four no-hit innings. Thompson gave up five earned runs but…
Final Audition for “Vinny From Philly” Tomorrow?
Manager Pete Mackanin told media that a decision will be made tomorrow who the fifth starter will be and it has come down to Adam Morgan (2-0, 2.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 2 Ks in 9 IP) and Vincent Velasquez (0-0, 3.21 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 16 Ks in 14 IP). The possibility remains that Eickhoff will stay in Florida when camp breaks to continue to get more work in following a broken thumb and both Morgan and Velasquez begin the year with Philly and the decision may be put off but the early money seems to be on the dazzling Velasquez who has shown dominance with a mid-90s fastball ball and a biting curve. Vinny from Philly will face Marcus Stroman and the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow in Dunedin.
