By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Sure, it's only Feb. 22, but it's never too early for Philadelphia Phillies fans too look ahead at who will be pitching at the games they've purchased tickets for.
For those heading to the season-opener in Cincinnati on April 3, manager Pete Mackanin suggested earlier this week that Jeremy Hellickson is likely to get the nod for the second consecutive Opening Day.
Mackanin hasn't formally set the order for the rotation, but it's fairly easy to project the order. If Hellickson starts on Opening Day, then Jerad Eickhoff will start the team's second game and new-Phillie Clay Buchholz will likely get the nod in the final game of the series.
The Phillies home opener, which will take place on Friday, April 7 when they welcome the Washington Nationals to town, will then either be started by Vince Velasquez or Aaron Nola.
After arm injuries limited him to just 111 innings in 2016, Nola is likely to be on an inning's limit in 2017. Velasquez who has an injury history of his own, said last week that he expects the team to 'monitor' his innings as well. That said, Velasquez pitched 136 total innings in 2016, so his innings will likely be capped at a higher number than Nola's.
With that in mind, Velasquez seems the best bet to be slotted at the No. 4 spot in the rotation, which would put him in line to start the home opener over Nola, who had that honor a season ago.
Nothing is set-in-stone, though. Both Velasquez and Nola have had arm injuries that the team hopes become a thing of the past in 2017. Buchholz, who will be slotted above the aforementioned trio, has an extensive injury history of his own. The point is, Spring Training is long and injuries happen, so what looks like a lock on paper on Feb. 22 may not be what happens when the season starts.
But Phillies fans who have tickets for the home opener should expect to see one of Velasquez or Nola, perhaps the two most important arms in the organization, on the mound to open Citizens Bank Park's 2017 slate.
