Phillies' minor-league aces show big-league promise

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Pete Mackanin boarded the bus outside Bright House Field at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday for an unusual 140-mile trip with a split-squad Phillies team. He brought most of his coaching staff with him. Typically, when presented the chance to stay home with the other squad, the manager will do so.

But Mackanin planned this. And he was rewarded, once he watched Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin, and Mark Appel for eight innings. Now, as he removed his black-rimmed glasses inside a bland office at Hammond Stadium, he beamed.

"They all have a good chance to be successful in the big leagues," Mackanin said. "They're not going with us right now, but I wanted to see them as much as I can. Just so I know I have a real good idea of what they're capable of."

Around the corner, at three adjoining lockers, the young pitchers decompressed. Thompson, a 22-year-old righty traded for one of the greatest pitchers in Phillies history, realized that the three arms may never all pitch in the same game again.

"It's pretty cool," Thompson said.

Eflin, 21 and traded for the greatest shortstop in Phillies history, reflected on his first time at big-league camp.

"It's been everything I imagined and more," he said.

Appel, seated nearby, laughed. "It's my third," said the 24-year-old former No. 1 overall pick traded for one of the game's best young closers. "I was telling these guys, 'I'm the salty vet of the top prospects.' I've been here so long."

The next morning, back in Clearwater, the three pitchers were sent to minor-league camp. They were never going to make the Phillies - not this spring - but the three weeks were designed as an audition. A chance for the decision makers to learn about three pitchers who joined the organization within the last 15 months.

And a time to grow the budding friendship among three players who one day could form a Phillies nucleus.

"I think deep down we all kind of see that and think about that," Appel said. ". . . The three of us have played against each other at different levels of the minor leagues and now we're all on the same team. We see each other's talent and we get excited about it. We're becoming good friends. I'm looking forward to getting to know them a lot better, playing with them and developing that friendship. I think we're going to have a lot of fun."

This spring, Thompson is living in the same Clearwater apartment complex as Eflin, who is roommates with Aaron Nola. Thompson and Eflin carpooled some days, but then Eflin started leaving at 5:45 a.m., and that was too early for Thompson. Eflin fishes, but sometimes he'd golf with Thompson.

Appel, who is staying closer to the beach, usually spent his mornings with some quiet contemplation in the corner of the clubhouse.

Different pitchers, different personalities. Thompson is a power arm. Eflin, more of a finesse guy, pitches to contact. Appel has gifted breaking pitches along with his fastball. They will have a chance in Allentown, and on the bus rides of the International League, to mesh.

"I don't think they could put a better group of guys together," Eflin said. "Just the way they are on and off the field. We all get along really easily. That really establishes a foundation for the rotation."

They can push each other, too.

The benefits of a taste of big-league camp were no more evident than on Wednesday, when all three pitchers escaped trouble against the Twins. In each of their first outings - Thompson and Eflin vs. the Astros and Appel against the Yankees - the young arms appeared, at times, overwhelmed. Thompson's control was shaky. Eflin walked two batters and hit another in two innings. Appel walked four in two innings.

They did not walk a batter in eight innings Wednesday. Cameron Rupp, who caught that game, said the pitchers had "some jitters" early in camp. It was, after all, their first times pitching in a Phillies uniform.

The response impressed Rupp.

"You hear what all these guys did last year, how well they pitched, and they showed they are what everyone says they are," Rupp said. "They threw strikes. They didn't back down from big-league hitters."

Nola, hardly a veteran himself but entrenched in his role as the rotation's young flag-bearer, had a brief chat with the pitchers before they were demoted.

"They're going to do well," Nola said. "We have so many young pitchers. The competition is good. The challenge of guys pushing each other, that will be good."

Projections of pitching prospects are futile. Arms break down. Many aren't able to make the necessary adjustments when the hitters improve. That is why the Phillies have accumulated young starters; some could become relievers and others could be future trade chips.

"I know we have a lot of work to do," Eflin said.

On Thursday morning, Mackanin pulled the pitchers into his office. "We let them know there's a good chance they will be a big part of the future," Mackanin said. He had seen enough to know he likes all three of them.

Enough to know at least one of them could soon debut in the majors. The prospects passed the season's first test.

"The three of us all kind of identify with each other," Appel said. "We're all younger. We know that we could have an impact on the Phillies' future if we go out and take care of our business."

mgelb@philly.com

@mattgelb