By Jack Fritz, Sports Talk Philly editor
Tonight is the 88th edition of the MLB All-Star Game and the Philadelphia Phillies will be represented by relief pitcher Pat Neshek.
But who will be the Phillies representative in the 89th edition of the MLB All-Star Game?
If you project a year in advance, to where the 2018 Phillies are sitting at the All Star break, I think it will look a lot different and feel a lot different. With a majority of their prospects nearing being major league ready, I would be shocked if general manager Matt Klentak hands out as many one-year deals to stop-gaps this offseason. The youth movement will have commenced in Philadelphia and you could realistically see a Phillies lineup that adds Rhys Hoskins, J.P Crawford, Scott Kingery and Jorge Alfaro to it.
With the youth movement officially reaching the major league level in 2018 projecting who the Phillies All-Star would be is tough. I will say this – with how young the lineup will be, I would be shocked, and pleasantly surprised, if the Phillies representative is a hitter. If it is a hitter, that is a good sign for this Phillies team and it means that one of their young guys "popped." (For the record, my favorites from the lineup to be in the 2018 All-Star Game next are Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr.)
This turns our attention to the Phillies 2018 rotation. Much like the Phillies lineup, I expect the Phillies rotation to be similar to the one the team has trotted out this season and I don't expect them to find guys on one year deals or expiring contracts. It's time to find out if the young kids in the rotation are for real or not. I would expect Jeremy Hellickson to be gone at this trade deadline, thus opening up another spot for a young guy to fill in.
I know 2017 hasn't been great as a whole for this starting staff, but I feel much more comfortable with it now than I did a month or two ago. During that time, Aaron Nola has gotten back on track, Jared Eickhoff has gotten healthy and both Ben Lively and Nick Pivetta have flashed as something moving forward.
The Phillies representative in the 2018 MLB All-Star Game is going to come from this Phillies rotation and if I had to put money down today, it would be on Nola.
Why?
Because when he's been healthy, he's been fantastic. Health is the only thing standing in the way of Nola becoming an All-Star in 2018. Nola was on track to be an All-Star last season before his season was derailed with an arm injury. During the last month, he has looked like that guy all over again. In his last four starts Nola has given up only five earned runs while striking out 8.5 per start. The fastball is back with the zip, movement and location that we saw pre-injury in 2016 and the change-up has finally given him another quality pitch to keep hitters off balance. He's maturing more and more as a pitcher and I think by making that change-up into a more effective pitch, it should help keep him more fresh and have less strain on his arm.
I expect Nola to stay on this path and make his way onto the National League roster in 2018.
Unfortunately, he may be the Phillies only representative in next year's All-Star Game but still, him getting in the game next year would ease a lot of tensions about the future of this staff.
Bet on Nola to be representing the Phillies in Washington next season.
