By Jordan Long
The Philadelphia Phillies will miss right handed starting pitcher Clay Buchholz who underwent surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right forearm. The Phillies placed him on the 10-day disabled list but he is projected to be out 4 to 6 months, which could be the rest of the year. What will this mean for the Phillies?
The Phillies traded with Boston for Buchholz on December 22, 2016. They sent minor league second baseman Josh Tobias to Boston in hopes of improving the starting pitching. Buchholz went 8-10 with 93 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.78 in 2016. The Phillies were hopeful he would strike batters out to keep them in games.
This season Buchholz started two games with a record of 0-1 and a mediocre ERA of 12.27. He was having trouble with his command with only 5 strikeouts. Buchholz gave up 3 walks and 1 home run.
The Phillies called up Zach Eflin who started Tuesday night’s game against the New York Mets. Eflin appeared in 11 games in 2016 for the Phillies with a record of 3-5. His ERA is an unimpressive 5.54 but he was able to strike batters out with 31.
The problem with Eflin is his pitch location. He leaves the ball up in the zone and batters are able to hit it out of the park. If Eflin wants to replace Buchholz he must work on his pitches. He needs to be able to pitch it lower in the zone for ground outs or fly balls. That will keep the Phillies in games. If Eflin doesn’t, he will be sent back down to Triple A and the Phillies will be looking for another pitcher to replace Buchholz.
What do you think of the Philadelphia Phillies calling up Zach Eflin to take Clay Buchholz’s place in the pitching rotation?
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