By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
Hours after avoiding arbitration with late-inning reliever Hector Neris, the Phillies have agreed to terms with another of the eight remaining arbitration eligible players.
This time, the Phillies have agreed with starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff. Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports reports that the deal will pay Eickhoff $975,000 for the 2019 season.
Jerad Eickhoff and Phillies agree at $975K for 2019
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) January 10, 2019
Eickhoff missed nearly all of the 2018 season to injury. After straining his back during spring training, Eickhoff dealt with numbness in his fingers, an issue that affected him during the 2017 season, and ended up with a 6.75 ERA in the majors as he pitched only five and a third innings at the end of the season.
In 2016, he had a 3.65 ERA and a WHIP of 1.160. He also had a strikeout to walk ratio of 167 to 42 over his 33 starts. If he is able to bounce back from his injuries, he would be a reliable back of the rotation starter for the Phillies.
With Eickhoff out of the way, the team has seven more arbitration eligible players, including 2018 Cy Young Award finalist Aaron Nola. He is joined by Vince Velasquez, Adam Morgan, Cesar Hernandez, Maikel Franco, Aaron Altherr and the recently-acquired Jose Alvarez.
The team will continue to attempt to avoid arbitration with as many of those players as they can prior to Friday’s deadline.
