By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies introduced RHP Jake Arrieta Tuesday morning, 16 days before they will open the season against the Atlanta Braves. Arrieta won't start on Opening Day, but he says he believes he'll be ready to pitch during the first week of the regular season.
Arrieta, who the Phillies signed to a three-year/$75 million contract, says that he's been throwing bullpen sessions "every two or three days," putting him on track to be ready to start the regular season:
Jake Arrieta says his arm strength is there, he's been throwing 50-65 pitch bullpens a few times a week. Says he'll sit down with Phillies to get a plan in place, but expects to be ready to go for the first week of the season.
— Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) March 13, 2018
After Aaron Nola's Grapefruit League debut on Feb. 25, Kapler announced that the 24-year-old would be the team's Opening Day starter. The first-year manager reiterated Monday evening, after the Phillies officially announced the signing of Arrieta, that Nola will still get the ball to open the 2018 season.
In theory, if Arrieta is ready to pitch in a major league game during the first week of the season, he could start on March 30 against the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies second game of the season. That would put him on track to start the Phillies home-opener on April 5 against the Miami Marlins.
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Of course, the Phillies may ultimately decide that they don't feel comfortable with Arrieta starting a regular season game that quickly. Arrieta may have worked hard while waiting to sign with a team, but there's no substitute for actually being with a team during Spring Training. Manager Gabe Kapler and general manager Matt Klentak, rather curiously, weren't asked about whether they believe Arrieta will be ready to pitch during the first week of the regular season during Tuesday's introductory press conference.
The Phillies may decide that Arrieta is ready to start during the first week of the season. If they decide that he needs a little more time to prepare, their first five games take place over a six-day stretch. So the Phillies could skip Arrieta the first time through the rotation, if need be, and have Nola pitch twice without asking him to throw on short rest.
