Phillies Activate Jerad Eickhoff, Designate Ben Lively

The Phillies have activated right-hander Jerad Eickhoff from the 60-day disabled list and designated fellow righty Ben Lively for assignment, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com tweets.

Eickhoff’s finally in line to pitch after going down in mid-March with a lat strain, an injury that was only supposed to shelve him for six to eight weeks. The 28-year-old ended up missing nearly six months, though, as he suffered multiple setbacks during his recovery and was even checked for thoracic outlet syndrome along the way. Fortunately, Eickhoff dodged that injury – often a catastrophic one for pitchers. He also pitched well in the minors during the rehab process, including at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he logged a 2.90 ERA with 6.7 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 in 18 2/3 innings.

Prior to what has essentially been a lost 2018 for Eickhoff, he held his own at times with the Phillies from 2015-17, combining for a 3.87 ERA/4.10 FIP with 7.99 K/9 and 2.58 BB/9 over 376 1/3 frames. Eickhoff started in all 65 appearances during that span, but he may work as a reliever upon his return. The Phillies’ rotation has been among the majors’ best, after all, as Aaron Nola, Jake Arrieta, Zach Eflin, Vince Velazquez and Nick Pivetta have each done respectable to exemplary work over 20-plus starts apiece.

Lively, a Phillie since they acquired him from the Reds for outfielder Marlon Byrd in a 2014 trade, may be on his way to his third organization. The 26-year-old cracked the Phillies’ season-opening rotation and struggled across five starts before succumbing to a back injury, as he posted a 6.85 ERA/5.14 FIP and a 27.5 percent groundball rate over 23 2/3 innings. But Lively did log a solid strikeout rate (8.37 per nine), and he’s only a year removed from providing a passable 4.26 ERA/4.97 FIP in 15 starts and 88 2/3 innings with the Phillies. Plus, Lively has excelled at the Triple-A level this season, with a 2.42 ERA/3.21 FIP and 8.13 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 52 frames.