Hellickson said. The veteran pitcher laughed.
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Hellickson laughed at his catcher’s commentary.
“At this point, I don’t want to lose him”, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
“I hope not”, Hellickson replied.
Jeremy Hellickson may be staying in the NL East past the trade deadline.
If Hellickson is to slide into the Miami Marlins rotation, he would fit nicely behind Jose Fernandez, who leads the Marlins with his 2.54 ERA. “Now it’s on the next start so I definitely, like I told you guys, I see it and read about it, but it’s been like this for a few years now so it’s pretty easy to go out there right now”. Eickhoff allowed six runs, five earned, and nine hits in five innings in a 9-3 loss to the Marlins in his last start on July 21 in Philadelphia. He’s on track for his best season since 2012 with the Tampa Bay Rays, one year after he won the American League Rookie of the Year award.
“It doesn’t bother me”, Hellickson said of the rumors. “I’ve been working trying to keep the ball down and be aggressive”. His six innings of one-hit ball kept a punchless offense close enough. They all pitched well with a gaggle of scouts sitting behind the backstop.
Howard, who came in hitting. When he encountered trouble in the fourth, he conquered Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna to escape unharmed.
“Our bullpen did a great job”, Mackanin said. “Hellickson had a couple of mediocre starts, but in general, he’s been consistent”. Hellickson fired 70 pitches in six innings.
It’s very likely that Monday’s outing was Hellickson’s last in a Phillies uniform.
Cosart will start Monday against RHP Jeremy Hellickson (7-7, 3.84).
The Phillies almost wasted Hellickson’s performance. In his first start back with the Marlins since he was demoted to Triple-A New Orleans in late April, Cosart pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out three.
Mackanin said he had no idea what will become of Hellickson’s fate. The Phillies put runners on second and third with none out, thanks to a walk, a bunt single and an error. 166 in 217 at-bats, struck out swinging to end the threat.
The Phillies finally broke through with two outs in the eighth. Tommy Joseph delivered a clutch, two-out double against Fernando Rodney in the eighth to score Maikel Franco from first.
“There were a lot of goose eggs”, Joseph said. “When I was getting into second, I was like, ‘Oh, Maik is going to score”.
Of course, the Marlins are looking for pitching, too. “That was going to happen no matter what”. The Marlins made two of their three errors in the ninth that allowed the Phillies to add three more runs. Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez each drove in a run. I think we’re going to hit. Their next ranked prospect is first baseman Josh Naylor.
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Franco, not the fleetest of feet, scored from first base on a double for the first time this season.
