Spring competition will decide one spot in Phillies rotation

When the Phillies head for Cincinnati in April to start the season, one thing is all but certain: The starting rotation will consist of five pitchers who were not Phillies last April.

Aaron Nola prepared in Reading for his first full professional season. Charlie Morton rehabbed from Tommy John surgery while in Pittsburgh's minor-league system. Jeremy Hellickson was Arizona's No. 3 starter, and Jerad Eickhoff pitched for the double-A Frisco RoughRiders.

Phillies manager Pete Mackanin put all four of those pitchers, barring a surprise, in his rotation during a news conference Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park.

"For me, I don't want to etch anything in stone," Mackanin said. "But Nola and Eickhoff certainly have made great impressions, at least to me. So I would think they would be in the rotation somewhere."

Nola, of course, could start on April 4 - opening day.

There is no shortage of candidates for the one open rotation spot. Mackanin mentioned Vincent Velasquez, the centerpiece of the return in the Ken Giles trade. The 23-year-old started seven games for Houston last season and relieved in 12 others. He skipped triple A to reach the majors, so it is not a stretch to suggest he opens at Lehigh Valley in 2016.

But spring training will decide that.

"We're going to look at all of these possibilities and think outside the box," Mackanin said. "Velasquez was really a top-notch-looking prospect. I've never seen him pitch, but everybody I talked to at the winter meetings in other organizations said, 'Boy, you've got a good one there. This guy is the real deal.'

"Once we see him, for example, that'll help us get excited about one way or the other."

If the choice is Velasquez, that means the Phillies have five righties in the rotation. Is a lefty needed?

"Not necessarily," Mackanin said. "I just want the best five pitchers we can come up with."

Brett Oberholtzer, a lefty acquired in the Giles deal, should make the team in some capacity. He does not have minor-league options remaining. The Phillies have spoken all winter about "increasing the numbers" of viable pitchers. Keeping Oberholtzer - either as the fifth starter or long man - and optioning another pitcher would preserve those numbers.

Oberholtzer, 26, has a 3.94 ERA in 45 career games (42 starts). The other lefthanded option is Adam Morgan, who posted a 4.80 ERA in 15 starts last season. Morgan, though, can be sent to the minors.

The Phillies could start the season with Oberholtzer in the rotation and later replace him with a younger pitcher. That, too, could happen if Morton or Hellickson are traded. Team president Andy MacPhail said Tuesday the focus is on the system, but realism is required.

"We didn't want to expose five young arms every day," MacPhail said.

The staff will take close looks at Jake Thompson and Mark Appel, two righthanded prospects acquired in trades. Both are ticketed for triple-A Lehigh Valley but could be among the first call-ups should an injury or trade occur.

There are the righthanders who endured beatings in 2015. Alec Asher (9.31 ERA), David Buchanan (6.99 ERA) and Severino Gonzalez (7.92 ERA) will have to fight for innings in a crowded camp.

Matt Harrison, the injured veteran lumped into the package for Cole Hamels, does not appear to be an option.

"I haven't heard anything on that," Mackanin said. "Last thing I heard was we'll find out in the spring. We don't know what his status is."

Either way, last April's rotation of Cole Hamels, Aaron Harang, David Buchanan, Jerome Williams and Sean O'Sullivan feels like forever ago.