Phillies-Giants preview
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner appears headed to San Diego next month for the All-Star Game. Philadelphia Phillies righty Jeremy Hellickson might be headed somewhere in July as well. Only his journey could be a one-way trip. The Phillies will showcase Hellickson, their veteran offseason rental, for a 16th time Saturday night when they take on the Giants in the middle game of a three-game series. The Phillies arrived in San Francisco on Friday with a luxury -- a sixth starting pitcher -- with right-hander Vincent Velasquez having rejoined the team following 15 days on the disabled list. Manager Pete Mackanin admitted he wasn't quite sure what to do with the five-game winner. In the ideal world, the club would find a taker for the 29-year-old Hellickson, who pitched like a fourth or fifth starter any contender would love to add when he opened the season 4-2 with a 3.99 ERA, having won at New York and Washington. But the two-time postseason starter for Tampa Bay has since fallen upon hard times, going 0-5 in his last five starts. No doubt potential suitors have noticed the drought hasn't been entirely Hellickson's fault. He's had only one bad outing in the stretch (seven runs on nine hits in six innings at Washington on June 10), and has limited four of the other five opponents to three runs or fewer. An impressive effort at San Francisco, where the Giants sport the second-best record in the National League (23-13), likely would get someone's attention. It wouldn't be his first -- he held the Giants to one run over 6 2/3 innings last April and three hits in five innings last September in his last two appearances at AT&T Park. If the Phillies were to trade Hellickson after the start, they would open a spot for Velasquez without having to demote one of their current corps of young pitchers. "It's still up on the air," Mackanin said of what to do with Velasquez, who has been one of the club's top pitchers this season. "It's not definite." Right-hander Zach Eflin made his third start in Velasquez's spot in the rotation on Friday and, Mackanin indicated, the club would like to keep him around. It's easy to see why. The former first-round draft pick has allowed just two runs in his last two starts. Left-hander Adam Morgan, scheduled to start Monday at Arizona, is another story. He's just 1-6 with a 6.55 ERA and is the guy most likely to lose his starting spot if Hellickson is still around next week. The Giants have no such issues, especially when it comes to Bumgarner, who sports and NL's eighth-most wins (eight) and third-best ERA (1.85). The Giants have won 11 of Bumgarner's 15 starts this season and 23 of their 36 home games this season, the second-best mark in the National League behind the Chicago Cubs. The 23rd win came in the series opener on Friday night, when Brandon Belt improved the Giants' batting average with the bases loaded to a best-in-baseball .407 when he smacked a three-run double that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning. "They've done it so many times, it's not like they're feeling any pressure up there," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of his club's hitting in clutch situations. "I think they all want to be the guy up there with the bases loaded." |