By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies finished the 2016 campaign with eight more wins than last year and although they ended in a pretty bad slump, with the exception of the season finale, there were plenty of bright spots from seeing young starting pitchers debut to the minor league breakout seasons of Dylan Cozens and Rhys Hoskins.
As the offseason begins, a handful of players are headed to the Arizona Fall League, but two key members of the Phillies future are in Clearwater making their way back from injury. Right-hander Aaron Nola has been out since July with an elbow injury while first round pick Mickey Moniak has been dealing with hip tightness that caused him to miss the Gulf Coast League playoffs.
Nola, 23, has been throwing for a couple of weeks in Clearwater, Florida, according to CSNPhilly.com. The Phillies 2014 first rounder had a string of bad starts that resulted in a diagnosis of a sprained ulnar collateral ligament and a strained flexor tendon in July. Nola told CSN's Gregg Murphy during a game broadcast in September that his elbow was responding well to treatment. After posting a 2.31 ERA in six starts during the month of May, Nola went 1-3 with a 10.42 ERA in June and had a 6.30 ERA in July before being shelved for the year.
CSNPhilly.com reports that Nola will continue to increase the intensity of his program and work his way to a mound could face some hitters in the coming weeks. The increased workload will help determine whether or not his elbow has responded well enough to treatment to further eliminate surgery as an option.
Meanwhile, No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak impressed in his first professional season with the Gulf Coast League Phillies. In 46 games, the 18-year-old outfielder hit .284 with 11 doubles, four triples, one home run, 10 steals and 28 RBIs. Hip tightness kept Moniak from playing in the GCL playoffs and he's yet to play in any Florida Instructional League games this offseason.
“He’s fine,” director of player development Joe Jordan told CSNPhilly. “He’s just had a little hip tightness. He’s easing back into things, doing some baseball activities. We think the tightness was due to fatigue after the GCL season. But he’s fine. No surgery. He’ll have a normal offseason and be ready for camp.”
In addition to both Nola and Moniak progressing in their rehab, Mark Appel is also down in Florida recovering from surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow in June and J.P. Crawford will have a normal offseason according to Joe Jordan after having a loose body removed from his knee after the season ended.
