Philadelphia Phillies: Jerad Eickhoff’s issues are fixable

While the Philadelphia Phillies have struggled as a whole this season, Jerad Eickhoff’s struggles have been particularly concerning.

Eickhoff has been one of the more consistent pitchers for the Philadelphia Phillies over the last few years and his performances have fallen off of a cliff. Jerad Eickhoff is sporting a 5.15 ERA on the season after never finishing a season with an ERA over 3.70 in his career. Eickhoff is always someone who has needed to be perfect in order to win games for the Phillies as shown by his 11-14 record last season even with a 3.65 ERA.

Most of this is due to run support issues. Last season the Phillies provided Eickhoff with an average of 2.67 runs per game. For comparison, the average runs per game across the league was 4.48 last season. Stepping out on the mound knowing that you’ll be punished for any small mistake made is taxing on a pitcher and there aren’t many pitchers around the league who have received less support than Eickhoff over the years.

This season it hasn’t gotten much better as the Philadelphia Phillies have scored an average of 3.41 runs in Eickhoff starts. While this is closer to the Major League average it still isn’t enough to relieve some of the pressure on their workhorse. This has led to an uptick in hits and walks allowed for Eickhoff who is usually in control on the mound.

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Most of Eickhoff’s peripheral numbers are in line with last season except for one key thing. He has scrapped his changeup, thrown his fastball less, and began to rely on his 12-6 curve more often. This has led to Eickhoff becoming a three-pitch pitcher which also makes him more predictable. Batters being able to lay off of his curveball has allowed them to key in on his fastball, leading to harder hit balls that fall in for hits.

Not being around the team on a regular basis, I can only speculate on why this has been done but it is generally better to have a fourth pitch even if it is below average to keep batters honest. This is especially true for a pitcher like Eickhoff who only has one above average pitch. While his curveball is awesome, batters are able to lay off and anticipate it because he isn’t getting ahead in counts to keep them honest.

It’s unknown if this is something that was called for by pitching coach Bob McClure but being that McClure has called out Cameron Rupp and Andrew Knapp on pitch selection before Eickhoff’s battery mate could be in play. If this was a McClure idea, it’s another nail in the coffin in the case for his firing but that conclusion can’t be made without evidence.

There is a little bad luck in play as batters are hitting .327 on balls in play versus Eickhoff but a lot of this is due to the reliance on his fastball. Prior to this season, Eickhoff’s biggest concern was the rate that he allowed home runs but he is now allowing 1.11 home run per nine innings compared to 1.37 last season. These stats dropping shows that Eickhoff can be saved but the direction may need to come from McClure.

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It will be interesting to see how the Philadelphia Phillies deal with this issue but getting Eickhoff back on track is key to salvaging the season. It may not be as simple as reintroducing the changeup into his arsenal but that could be a good place to start. At this point, it’s worth a shot.