In taking his first loss at the major-league level, Jerad Eickhoff didn’t have the same type of success he experienced in his debut in Miami over the weekend. Six innings of shutout ball turned into six innings of four-run ball. A six-run win turned into a five-run loss.
Still, there was a clear silver lining to be taken from the 25-year-old right-hander’s performance: On a night where he initially didn’t have his best stuff, Eickhoff was able to recover in a big way and give the Phillies a much-needed professional start.
“[Eickhoff] is a pretty solid guy,” Pete Mackanin said after the Phillies’ 9-4 loss to the New York Mets. “He doesn’t really need reinforcement in that way. He’s got a lot of confidence.”
At this point of the season, the Phillies are somewhat in survival mode. The bullpen has thrown 415.2 innings on the year, third-most in the majors. After receiving only nine combined innings from their starters in the first two games of the Mets series, they desperately needed Eickhoff to go deep on Wednesday. And then the first inning happened.
Three runs, four hits, one walk, one error, and most importantly, 40 pitches. A disaster, more or less. Only one ball, a double off the bat of Michael Cuddyer, was truly hit on the screws, but Eickhoff was struggling with his command.
“Early on, I caught more of the plate on several pitches and they were able to turn on them and [hit balls] in the hole,” Eickhoff said.
As the Phillies’ starter also mentioned, things could have been a lot more interesting if he didn’t get the Mets’ 8-9 hitters (Anthony Recker, Bartolo Colon) out and leave the bases loaded. Then, as Mackanin said, the switch completely flipped.
Eickhoff’s command, particularly of his two breaking pitches (slider, curveball), became pinpoint as he pounded the strike zone. Before allowing a double to Michael Conforto in the sixth inning, he retired 16 straight batters.
Not only that, but Eickhoff worked economically as well. After a disastrous 40-pitch first inning, he made it through the next five frames with only 57 pitches. Eickhoff allowed Conforto to score to make it 4-0 Mets, but more importantly, he didn’t force an already fatigued bullpen to work overtime.
“I knew I was up there, but I didn’t know what [my pitch count] actually was,” Eickhoff said. “I was just trying to attack the zone some more, get some quick outs, and get ahead of guys.”
Mission accomplished. Acquired as a lesser piece in the Cole Hamels trade, Eickhoff came close to major-league ready unlike Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, and Jorge Alfaro. The Phillies gave him only three starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley before calling him up to the big club.
Although a change of scenery can be difficult, Eickhoff moved to an organization where there was an opportunity to immediately pitch in the major-league rotation. Even though he has a chance to make a good impression the rest of the year, Eickhoff says he doesn’t look at this opportunity as an audition for next year.
“I’m not looking into much of the future right now,” Eickhoff said.
In Eickhoff’s first home start, there were more visiting fans at The Bank than usual. When the Mets jumped out to a lead in the first inning, they became pretty loud, just as they were when the Phillies’ bullpen essentially set the game on fire. But for those middle innings, Eickhoff quieted the New Yorkers.
In what has been a difficult series for the Phillies and what was looking like a lost start, Eickhoff at least scored a minor victory.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann