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Jake Arrieta

NL Notes: Bell, Pirates, Boras, Cubs, Marlins

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Before the Pirates traded Josh Bell to the Nationals, the team had some cursory negotiations about an extension with the first baseman’s agent Scott Boras, Bell told reporters (including Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic).  The two sides went “back and forth” on a long-term deal, Bell said, “but in regards to numbers or anything like that, I don’t think it ever got to that point.”  Bell is eligible for free agency after the 2022 season, when he’ll be 30 years old. 

Given how the Pirates appear to be open to dealing virtually anyone as they rebuild their team, it’s fair to wonder whether even an extension might have kept Bell in Pittsburgh — some clubs might have intrigued at having additional years of control and added cost certainty.  Then again, given how Bell struggled in 2020, trade suitors might have balked at paying significant guaranteed money to a player coming off such a tough year.  Regardless, Bell will need a strong bounce-back year with the Nationals to ensure himself at least a bigger arbitration raise in 2022, and to help build his case for either an extension with Washington or a notable free agent payday in two years’ time.

More from the National League…

  • Speaking of Boras, the agent recently appeared on a podcast with NBC Sports Chicago’s Gordon Wittenmyer and Maddie Lee to discuss the Cubs and Boras client Kris Bryant (and former Cub and current free agent Jake Arrieta), plus also several bigger-picture issues surrounding the game.  The podcast explores such topics such as the offseason free agent market, the upcoming CBA talks and the relationship between the league and the players’ union, the business of baseball at the ownership level, and much more.
  • Francisco Cervelli provided the Marlins with some pop behind the plate last season, but after the veteran’s season was cut short by a concussion (that led to Cervelli’s retirement), neither Jorge Alfaro or Chad Wallach delivered much hitting-wise.  However, while another catcher could still be added, it looks like the Marlins are still planning to deploy Alfaro and Wallach as the primary catching duo going into 2021, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald writes.  The team is hopeful that Alfaro can become a more reliable defensive option and also unlock the batting potential that made him such a highly-touted prospect — Alfaro has delivered some decent numbers in his young career but with a lot of strikeouts and not much consistency.  Wallach, meanwhile, offers more solid glovework, but little in the way of offensive production.

Phillies Place Jake Arrieta On 10-Day IL

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Sept. 17: Arrieta’s strain is a Grade 1 strain, manager Joe Girardi tells reporters (Twitter link via Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer). He won’t pitch again during the regular season but could still be a potential option in the playoffs, should the Phillies get there.

Sept. 16: The Phillies announced that they’ve placed right-hander Jake Arrieta (right hamstring strain) and outfielder Kyle Garlick (right oblique strain) on the 10-day injured list. Those moves helped clear space for the promotion of outfielder Mickey Moniak. The Phillies also recalled righty Connor Brogdon.

Arrieta’s injury makes it possible that we’ve seen the last of him in a Phillies uniform, as he’s due to reach free agency after the season. The Phillies signed the former NL Cy Young winner and ex-Cubs star to a three-year, $75MM shortly before the 2018 campaign began, but the returns haven’t been positive for the club. Arrieta has missed time with multiple injuries and performed like a back-end starter when healthy, having logged a 4.36 ERA/4.55 FIP over 352 2/3 innings in a Phillies uniform. He has thrown 44 1/3 frames of 5.08 ERA/4.67 FIP ball with 6.5 K/9, 3.25 BB/9 and a 51.8 percent groundball rate this season.

Arrieta’s disappointing production in 2020 is one of the reasons the Phillies are fighting for their playoff lives at 24-23. Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler have given the team top-level numbers out of its rotation, but Arrieta, Spencer Howard, Zach Eflin and Vince Velasquez have all failed to prevent runs at an acceptable level in a combined 28 starts.

Phillies GM Matt Klentak On Rotation, Free Agency, Kingery

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The Phillies’ pair of playoff misses in 2018-19 prompted a managerial change, and with veteran skipper Joe Girardi now at the helm, postseason expectations are even higher. With those postseason aspirations comes the expectation of an active offseason — a topic which general manager Matt Klentak discussed with Joe DeCamara and Jon Ritchie on the 94WIP Midday Show yesterday (link includes full audio). Unsurprisingly, bolstering the rotation is a key goal for the Phils.

“We’ve built a pretty solid core, we think, on the position-player front,” said Klentak. “So I think it makes sense for us to look to pour some more resources, and our time and attention, into improving our run prevention. That starts in the starting rotation.”

Aaron Nola will once again head up the Phillies’ starting staff in 2020, and Klentak said within the interview that Jake Arrieta is expected to be ready for the start of Spring Training after undergoing August surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow. (The hope, of course, is that better health from Arrieta will lead to better results than 2019’s 4.64 ERA in 135 innings.) Beyond that pairing, 25-year-old righty Zach Eflin seems likeliest to have a tentative rotation spot, although he briefly lost his starting gig in 2019. The team’s other primary starters in 2019 — Nick Pivetta, Vince Velasquez, Drew Smyly and Jason Vargas — either struggled greatly (Pivetta, Velasquez), have since departed via free agency (Smyly) or both (Vargas).

At bare minimum, it’d seem the Phillies have two rotation vacancies to address. The good news is that this year’s free-agent market is deeper than many recent offseasons in terms of starters. Fans, however, shouldn’t necessarily hang their hopes on Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg or Zack Wheeler coming to town. While Klentak didn’t firmly decree that the team won’t sign a player that has rejected a qualifying offer, he implied that the organization will need to stop doing so at some point.

“I’m more bullish on the farm system than some,” the GM explained when asked about improving his minor league talent base. “One of the things we’ve got to try to do, if we can, is to not forfeit draft picks, and that’s hard when you’re fishing in the deep end of the free-agent pond. But we lost our second-round pick last year and our second and third the year before. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but that’s where Scott Kingery comes from. That’s where Spencer Howard comes from. That’s where Connor Seabold comes from. … We’ve got to try to hang onto that as much as we can.”

Again, it’s not a firm declaration that such a move won’t happen. The Phillies certainly have the payroll capacity, in both the short- and long-term, to add a high-end arm on the open market, and they’ve clearly been willing to make draft sacrifices recently. But if the preference is to maintain as much draft capital as possible, the team could also look to non-qualified free agents to bolster the staff. Cole, Straburg, Wheeler, Madison Bumgarner and Jake Odorizzi are the five starters that received (and will likely reject) qualifying offers.

Reigning NL ERA leader Hyun-Jin Ryu was ineligible to receive a qualifying offer, though, and the Cubs opted not to extend a QO to old friend Cole Hamels, who just yesterday expressed interest in a return to Philly. Other notable free-agent names include Dallas Keuchel, Michael Pineda and Rick Porcello, among many others.

Beyond the pitching staff, Klentak briefly touched on some notable points pertaining to the lineup. McCutchen, like Arrieta, is expected to be ready for day one of Spring Training after suffering a season-ending ACL tear back in June. Barring setbacks, he’ll reclaim a spot in the outfield, but the composition of that unit is in many ways dependent on the status of Odubel Herrera, who sat out the final 85 games of the season under a domestic violence suspension.

Klentak was noncommittal on Herrera’s future when asked, instead focusing his response on the competition that arose in center field during his absence. Adam Haseley, Roman Quinn and Kingery impressed in center, per the GM. Kingery, in particular, drew extensive praise from Klentak, who noted that the 25-year-old’s versatility is not only a luxury for the manager but for the front office.

“If we’re looking to add a bat, for instance, we don’t have to look at just one position,” said Klentak. “We can look at a variety of different spots, knowing that Scott Kingery can not just capably, but masterfully, fill in defensively just about anywhere. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say he’s our best defensive second baseman, shortstop, third baseman and center fielder.”

The Phillies have a pair of trade/non-tender candidates at second base (Cesar Hernandez) and third base (Maikel Franco) in addition to the aforementioned uncertainty in center field, making that comfort with Kingery at four different positions particularly noteworthy. That creates a relatively blank canvas for Klentak and his staff when looking to improve the lineup and/or the defense. As is the case with the rotation, Klentak will have virtually innumerable avenues to explore, setting the stage for another offseason of heavy lifting for the Philly front office.

Phillies Announce Flurry Of Roster Moves

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The Phillies have announced a wide slate of roster moves today, setting the team up for another fascinating offseason. In particular, the club has shorn a big chunk of its 2019 pitching staff from the roster in one fell swoop.

Philadelphia declined club options over righty Jared Hughes, righty Pat Neshek, and lefty Jason Vargas. Also heading to the open market are five players were outrighted: infielder Phil Gosselin and righties Jerad Eickhoff, Mike Morin, Blake Parker, and Edubray Ramos.

That’s a big chunk of innings going onto the open market despite ongoing control rights. To be exact, the Phils are kicking 219 2/3 of their frames from 2019 back into free agency. It’s hard to argue with any of the decisions.

Hughes was solid as a late-season gap-filler, but didn’t rate at a $3MM price tag for 2020. He’ll get a $250K buyout on the way out. Neshek takes $750K with him instead of pitching for $7MM. That’s no surprise after he was limited to 18 frames due to injury. Vargas is due a $2MM buyout instead of a $8MM salary; the Phils evidently feel they can do better in the rotation on the open market this winter.

The biggest departure is that of Eickhoff. The once-promising starter projected to earn only $1.5MM, with one more season of control thereafter, but the Phils decided to cut bait after watching him struggle to a 5.71 ERA over 58 1/3 innings. Eickhoff had a few encouraging outings upon his return from a long injury layoff, but struggled thereafter and was again sidelined with arm woes.

The other three were also eligible for arbitration. Morin, who has a $1.2MM projected arb salary, struggled to get strikeouts during his stint with the club. Parker surprisingly turned in 11.2 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 25 frames but also gave up a host of homers and earned runs. Perhaps he’d have been worth a lower-cost keeper price but the Phils weren’t biting at a projected $4.7MM. The 26-year-old Ramos entered the year as a key piece but struggled with injuries and showed a velocity decline when he was available. He projected to earn only $800K, but the team may not have been convinced of his ability to return to full health.

Meanwhile, a host of players were added back to the 40-man roster. Among the players activated from the 60-day injured list is starter Jake Arrieta, who has exercised his player option and will remain with the organization. On the heels of a messy, injury-marred campaign, that comes as no surprise. Additionally, outfielder Odubel Herrera was reinstated from the restricted list after the conclusion of his suspension for a violation of the league’s domestic violence policy. His future with the organization remains unclear following this procedural move.

Jake Arrieta Declines To Exercise Opt-Out Clause

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Phillies righty Jake Arrieta won’t exercise the opt-out clause in his contract, keeping him in his deal with the Phillies for the 2020 season, the Associated Press reports.  Arrieta will earn $20MM for the 2020 season, the final year of the three-year, $75MM pact he signed with Philadelphia in March 2018.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported in October that Arrieta was going to remain with the Phillies, and indeed, it became increasingly obvious throughout the veteran right-hander’s injury-marred year that the opt-out clause wouldn’t be a factor.  Arrieta revealed in July that he was trying to keep pitching despite suffering from a bone spur in his throwing elbow, and while he toughed it out as long as possible, Arrieta eventually hit the injured list in mid-August and soon underwent season-ending surgery.

The end result was a 4.64 ERA, 2.16 K/BB rate, and 7.3 K/9 over 135 2/3 innings for Arrieta, easily his least-impressive performance since his early-career struggles as a member of the Orioles in 2010-12.  Arrieta posted by far the largest hard-hit ball (38%) and home run (19.4%) percentages of his career, while his 7.1% swinging-strike rate was the third-lowest total of his career.

Arrieta’s stay in the 2017-18 free agent market was a lengthy one, as he was hampered by the qualifying offer and a feeling amongst some teams that he was beginning to a decline following a good but not great 2017 season with the Cubs.  Over two seasons with the Phillies, Arrieta has a 4.26 ERA, 7.2 K/9, 51.4% grounder rate, and 2.30 K/BB rate — decent numbers, though hardly what the Phils expected from a pitcher earning $25MM in average annual value.

The best-case scenario for Arrieta and the Phillies is that the bone spur was the root cause of his struggles, and he’ll rebound for a healthy and productive age-34 season.  That would be a welcome boost to a Phillies team that was let down by its starting pitching almost across the board last season, though Philadelphia is expected to be pursuing some upgrades this winter.  A good year from Arrieta would also increase his chances at another multi-year in free agency next offseason, as a repeat of his 2019 numbers would likely limit his market to only one-year offers.

NL Notes: Castellanos, Giants, Mets, Arrieta

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MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand takes advantage of the break in World Series action to profile six upcoming free agents whose free agent values are “tough to define” heading into the 2019-2020 offseason. Cubs outfielder Nicholas Castellanos kicks off his list, with Feinsand noting that Castellanos’ defensive limitations may limit his market. On the more optimistic end, however, one unnamed NL executive is quoted as saying that “parallels” can be drawn to the profile of J.D. Martinez. As a formerly maligned outfield defender who showed pronounced growth at the plate after a few ho-hum early years in Detroit, Martinez netted a five-year, $110MM deal with the Red Sox back in 2018. Ironically, Castellanos and Martinez could be in direct competition on the open market this winter if Martinez opts out of his Red Sox contract and takes another spin through free agency.

More notes from around the senior circuit…

  • Astros bench coach Joe Espada is using his day off between World Series games to travel to San Francisco for a meeting with Giants brass, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (link). Espada has already conducted a phone interview with San Francisco reps, so his decision to sandwich an in-person interview between Fall Classic contests could be viewed as a sign that interest between both parties is fairly serious.
  • Tim Bogar’s previously reported second interview with Mets leadership is also expected to go down today, according to a tweet from Jon Heyman of MLB Network (link). Bogar, a coach with the Nationals, will also apparently be using his off day with an eye on securing one of MLB’s four remaining open managerial seats. As Heyman notes, Carlos Beltran, Eduardo Perez, Twins coach Derek Shelton, Mets coach Luis Rojas, and an “unknown bombshell candidate” are still in play for the New York position, with tongue presumably planted firmly in cheek on that last item.
  • Heyman also relays that Phillies starter Jake Arrieta will not opt out of the last year of his contract (link). This is largely expected after the starter turned in a mediocre season marred by an arm injury that ultimately required surgery. As part of the three-year, $75MM deal agreed to prior to the 2018 season, Arrieta could have re-entered the free agency portal this offseason were he willing to forego the final year and $20MM slated for Philadelphia’s 2020 payroll. Instead, the 33-year-old will look to regain his form under the watch of new manager Phillies Joe Girardi. Arrieta pitched to a 4.64 ERA (4.89 FIP) in 24 starts and 135.2 innings in 2019.

Boras Dishes On Opt-Outs, Upcoming Free Agents

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The upcoming free agent market will be shaped to an unusual degree by agent Scott Boras and his clients. That’s true not just because he represents so many of the top players heading to the open market, but because several of his clients have opt-out opportunities this fall. It’s all reading tea leaves at this point, but Boras did offer at least a few subtle hints in the course of an interview with Jon Heyman and Josh Levin on the Big Time Baseball Podcast (audio link).

He was asked first about Stephen Strasburg, who just turned 31 and is presently polishing off an excellent and healthy campaign. Given a chance to chat about the talented righty, Boras was muted. Indeed, he began by pointing out that Strasburg can opt out either this winter or next — which is true, and notable, but isn’t exactly a patented Boras sales pitch.

So, does that mean that Strasburg is leaning against an opt out and/or that Boras will recommend he hang onto his four-year, $100MM commitment? That’s impossible to say. And Boras made clear we shouldn’t assume any such thing, saying: “I make it a practice to not discuss anything with players about their contracts until they’re done performing and certainly we’ll have time to address that and I’m sure Stephen will give me direction on it.”

Boras was not similarly restrained when the hosts raised the topic of Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez, another prominent opt-out candidate. Though he didn’t specifically address the opt-out decision (three years, $62.5MM in his case), Boras left little doubt that he has begun compiling talking points on the slugger.

Martinez, per Boras, is “one of the top 5 offensive players in the game … and that is the vision of J.D. Martinez that I believe all teams have.” But the premium hitter is not a bat-only player, says his agent. He’s in the lineup every day and “plays forty or fifty games in the outfield,” says Boras. “I don’t think teams would in any way view J.D. Martinez as a DH,” adds the always-entertaining player rep, who also emphasized Martinez’s leadership and provision of hitting information and “intensity” to teammates.

Whether it’s fair to read anything into these comments is up for debate. Strasburg is famously quiet and may simply prefer his agent support that low profile. But those decisions are of critical importance to the respective teams and the overall market landscape. While their names were at least mentioned, Boras unsurprisingly passed on the chance to highlight Elvis Andrus and Jake Arrieta — two other clients who don’t seem to be in position to strongly consider opting out of their deals.

Boras also largely passed when asked to comment on two key Nationals players, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto. Boras says the team has made clear its “strong interest” in retaining Rendon. Having previously sputtered, contract talks won’t start again until the Nats wrap up the 2019 campaign. It still seems unlikely that a deal will be made before Rendon has a chance to test the market, though that’s not written in stone.

As for Soto, Boras acknowledged some recent comments from president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo regarding the team’s obvious interest in a long-term deal with the exceptional young hitter. But he did not read more into them than was intended or give any hint that there was particular interest or disinterest in dealmaking on the part of the 20-year-old Soto. “Those are things that we kind of leave in the space of the offseason before we ever begin discussion,” said Boras.

If there was another topic that really seemed to pique Boras’s interest — aside from the need to protect the health of players, in relation to the recent Kris Bryant injury — it was the upcoming free agency of Nicholas Castellanos. The outfielder has been aflame since landing with the Cubs, with Boras explaining that his talent has finally been freed by “getting into a lineup where people really can’t work around him and have to throw to him and they also have situational pressure.”

With Castellanos having “taken advantage of that situation to illustrate his skills,” and shown the defensive chops of one of the “ten to twelve best right fielders in the game,” Boras obviously feels he’s got a significant piece to market. Castellanos is still just 27 years of age and has certainly impressed in Chicago, but it remains less than clear just how robust his market will be. Boras says he believes “everyone understands now what kind of ballplayer that Nick Castellanos is.” And that may be true. But what isn’t clear is whether teams really believe Castellanos to be more than a 2.5 to 3 WAR range of performer — and whether they’ll be willing to commit big money over a lengthy term to acquire such a player.

Injury Notes: Strickland, Elias, Ross, Arrieta, Eickhoff, Kluber

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The Nationals pitching staff has taken another hit, per Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post (Twitter links). Reliever Hunter Strickland is having X-rays taken at PNC park after a bar struck him across the face. The injury stems from a weight room accident, but Strickland was up and about, playing catch ahead of tonight’s contest in Pittsburgh. It’s unclear whether he will be available out of the pen tonight. Strickland has been great since coming over to the Nats at the deadline, looking fully the part of the eighth-inning reliever they’ve longed for all season. He’s 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA/3.07 FIP and 5 holds in 8 contests. At best, Strickland’s mishap may lead to a second Washington pitcher taking the hill with more black-and-blue in the color scheme than usual. While we’re here, let’s check in on another couple of notes from Washington and beyond…

  • Strickland’s travel buddy from Seattle, Roenis Elias, remains out after injuring himself running out a groundball in his first appearance as a National. He could be close to returning from the strained hamstring, however, as he plans to throw off a mound for the first time since the injury this upcoming Thursday, tweets MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman.
  • Dougherty also provided an update on Joe Ross, who left last night’s blowout win after taking a Josh Bell one-hopper off the shin. His leg is wrapped, but Dave Martinez says the plan is for Ross to be ready to go for his next scheduled start on Saturday. Ross has pitched with newfound fervor since taking Max Scherzer’s spot in the rotation. Less four-seamers and a heavy reliance on his power sinker have at least been part of the story for the rejuvenated Ross. In four starts since the trade deadline, he’s thrown 21 1/3 innings with a hard-to-believe 0.42 ERA. Coming into August, Ross had a 9.85 ERA over 24 2/3 innings that spanned 18 games out of the bullpen and 1 start. If he’s healthy enough to go Saturday, the 5th spot in the Nats rotation appears his. If not, Erick Fedde will be ready to go.
  • The Phillies transferred Jake Arrieta to the 60-day injured list today, the team announced. Arrieta was already known to be out for the year because of a bone spur in his elbow that requires surgery. This move is but the paperwork allowing Jerad Eickhoff to be reinstated and sent to Triple-A. Eickhoff should have the final ten days or so in August to fine tune with Lehigh Valley, as he would be expected to join the Phillies when rosters expand in September.
  • Corey Kluber’s recent setback was due to abdominal tightness experience during a rehab start on Sunday, the Indians announced. The final diagnosis was an internal oblique strain. Kluber has been shut down to begin a rehab program with the hopes of being reevaluated and cleared to resume throwing in two weeks time. Obviously, that’s a very loose timetable, as Kluber’s return will depend entirely on his progress over this next fortnight.

Jake Arrieta To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

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Phillies righty Jake Arrieta will undergo season-ending surgery later this month to remove a bone spur in his right elbow, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Arrieta, 33, had been pitching through the injury since early in the summer, to less-than-stellar results. The 2019 season was the hurler’s worst since his days in Baltimore: though the righty somehow maintained a fastball velocity in the 92-93 MPH range despite the injury, he again struggled to miss bats, command the baseball, and keep it in the park. Though the second half of Arrieta’s season didn’t much differ from the first – apart from his outings often being truncated upon his reaching the 75-80 pitch mark – the pain seemed to intensify, and both team and player finally pulled the plug following a disastrous Sunday outing in San Francisco in which the 2015 Cy Young Award winner was touched for five earned in just three innings pitched.

Arrieta signed a three-year, $75MM deal prior to his age 32 season in 2018. The Chicago reclamation project anchored the Cubs staff for years, but his ERA, on the back of an otherworldly Cub defense, had long outpaced his peripherals, a gap which reached a head in his 2017 walk season, where ERA estimators pegged the righty at the top end of the fourth-starter range. He’s been about that or worse in Philly, where despite steady grounder and walk rates, the former fifth-rounder has seen his strikeout rates slide to worse than eight per nine and his gopher-ball rate ascend to below-league-average totals.

Like its bullpen, the Phillies’ rotation is mostly in shambles now. It can always count on ace Aaron Nola, but it’s now Vince Velasquez, Drew Smyly, Jason Vargas, and Zach Eflin beyond, a quartet that won’t inspire much confidence as the group charges toward its first playoff appearance since 2011.

Jake Arrieta’s Season Likely Over

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The Phillies have placed right-hander Jake Arrieta on the 10-day injured list, and Arrieta himself told reporters today that his season is likely over (Twitter link via Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune). “I’ll probably miss the remainder of the season,” said Arrieta, who is slated to undergo an MRI on Thursday.

The elbow troubles that are sidelining Arrieta aren’t a new revelation. Early in July, it was announced by the Phils that Arrieta was pitching through bone spurs in his elbow that would require eventual surgery. Arrieta has continued to pitch through the discomfort, though it seems as though he’s now reached a tipping point. Right-hander Zach Eflin, who was recently dropped to the bullpen, will return to the rotation to start in place of Arrieta on Saturday, tweets Scott Lauber of Philly.com.

It’s been a rather middling season for Arrieta, 33, as he’s pitched to a 4.64 ERA with 7.3 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 1.4 HR/9 through 24 starts — a total of 135 1/3 innings. Arrieta carried a 3.96 ERA through Memorial Day, but the summer hasn’t been kind to him as he’s pitched through those injuries; over his past 65 2/3 frames, he’s stumbled to a 5.76 ERA with a 51-to-25 K/BB ratio, four hit batters and a dozen home runs allowed.

Arrieta is in the second season of a three-year, $75MM contract that contains an opt-out clause after the 2019 season. Given the current injury and his summer struggles, that opt-out seems decidedly unlikely to be exercised, meaning he’ll remain under contract in Philadelphia through the 2020 season, when he’s slated to earn $20MM. The Phillies also hold a two-year, $40MM club option on Arrieta that they’ll surely forgo in light of his current health and recent struggles.

With Arrieta headed to the shelf for what looks to be the duration of the year, the Phillies will lean on Aaron Nola, Eflin, Vince Velasquez and a pair of recent newcomers — Drew Smyly and Jason Vargas — to round out the rotation for now. Both Smyly and Vargas have given the Phillies a pair of strong outings, though Smyly’s two most recent turns haven’t been as sharp. The Phillies have fallen to nine games out of the division lead in the NL East but are still just two games out of an NL Wild Card spot.

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