Phillies' Hellickson frustrates the Marlins

MIAMI - Jeremy Hellickson, a mild-mannered Iowan, considers himself a simple man. Those traits have guided the Phillies righthander as he pitches his best baseball of the season amid a stream of trade rumors. He threw six more shutout innings Monday in a 4-0 Phillies win over the Marlins and stressed again how the impending deadline has not affected him.

"He's not going anywhere!" catcher Cameron Rupp hollered from the opposite side of the clubhouse at Marlins Park. Not everyone is impervious to the chatter.

Hellickson, engaged by reporters, paused mid-answer. "What did he say?" Hellickson said. The veteran pitcher laughed.

If the Marlins were unconvinced of Hellickson's capabilities, the veteran's last 14 innings against them should suffice. Every other team - and there are numerous - in search of an inexpensive, mid-rotation starter will note that Hellickson is pitching his best as the trade deadline nears.

He has started twice in the last six days against Miami. The Phillies have won both times. His six innings of one-hit ball kept a punchless offense close enough.

The Phillies won because Maikel Franco walked and darted home on a Tommy Joseph double in the eighth inning, but Hellickson's continued succeess carries importance for a franchise looking to further its rebuilding process with every incremental move.

"At this point, I don't want to lose him," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I wish he could stay here. He's that solid for us. He's been like that the whole year."

No, the Phillies do not have to trade Hellickson; he has fulfilled his role as a steady presence in the team's young rotation. But Hellickson is a free agent at season's end and probably headed elsewhere in the winter. It would not hurt to exchange him now for a few lottery tickets that could help later, when the Phillies are contending and not rebuilding. And, in the immediate, it would clear a rotation spot for prospect Jake Thompson.

Either way, Hellickson is the most compelling Phillie with the Aug. 1 looming deadline. It is not high drama. Scouts from the Orioles, Blue Jays, Pirates and Giants - all of which seek a rotation upgrade - attended Monday's game.

It could be that Hellickson's Phillies career ended with him in the on-deck circle, being called back for a pinch-hitter, and it was too appropriate. The Phillies put runners on second and third with none out, thanks to a walk, a bunt single and an error. All they needed was for Cody Asche or Peter Bourjos to put the ball in play.

Both struck out. That prompted Mackanin to replace Hellickson with Ryan Howard, a .166 hitter, who went down on four pitches.

"After the seventh inning, after we didn't score, I didn't think we had a chance to win this game," Mackanin said. "I just thought that with their bullpen, we were in trouble."

Franco, not the fleetest of feet, scored from first base on a double for the first time this season. The Phillies added three more runs in the ninth inning, with the help of a Marlins error. They cracked Miami's two best relievers, Fernando Rodney and A.J. Ramos.

Hellickson permitted that opportunity. Again, he mastered a potent Miami lineup. In his eight innings last Wednesday, Hellickson allowed one run and could have completed the game.

This time, Hellickson threw with the same efficiency. He retired the first nine Marlins he faced on 36 pitches. When he encountered trouble in the fourth, he conquered Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna to escape unharmed. Hellickson fired 70 pitches in six innings.

His 3.65 ERA is at its lowest since the first week of the season. That will get him noticed.

"It doesn't bother me," Hellickson said of the rumors. "My focus was on helping us win today. Now it's on the next start."

Wherever that may be.

mgelb@philly.com

@mattgelb