Phillies (7-9) vs. Braves (6-10)
7:05 p.m. on CSN; streaming live on CSNPhilly.com and the NBC Sports App
The Phillies are on a two-game winning streak after surviving a late rally from the Braves on Friday night. Jeremy Hellickson came through with seven strong innings in the 4-3 win.
Jerad Eickhoff will take the hill with the chance to follow up the win with his first of the year, while Jaime Garcia of the Braves opposes him.
Here are five things to know for Saturday night's game.
1. Into the win column?
To summarize Eickhoff's season thus far, he has three quality starts, nearly a strikeout an inning, yet the Phillies have lost all three of his games.
It's highly reminiscent of last season when Eickhoff went through stretches of solid appearances without picking up a win. Sure, the win stat is basically irrelevant, but it's disappointing to see the 26-year-old right-hander go unrewarded for some solid appearances.
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All in all, Eickhoff has a 2.75 ERA in 19 2/3 innings, picking up where he left off last season. He's struck out 18 batters but walked six. One concern is that he allowed one home run in each start thus far after a whopping 30 in 33 starts last year. Those 30 homers were the third-worst in the National League last season while his opponent Saturday, Garcia, surrendered 26.
Most of Eickhoff's home runs (19) came at Citizens Bank Park, where he still had a better ERA than on the road. The righty will have to navigate a Braves lineup that just got back Matt Kemp in the middle of the order. Kemp helps protect Freddie Freeman, who has sterling numbers off Eickhoff. While the Braves as a whole bat just .205 with a .301 slugging percentage off Eickhoff, Freeman is 6 for 16 with two home runs and a double.
If you're looking for a silver lining, in five starts vs. the Braves last year, Eickhoff went 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA.
2. Same Garcia, new uniform
You may recognize Garcia from his eight injury-filled years with the St. Louis Cardinals. With just one year left on his deal, the Cardinals dealt him this offseason to the Braves for three younger players.
The 30-year-old lefty from Mexico is healthy in his first season in Atlanta, having made three starts so far. He has lasted as a starter in the majors by throwing five pitches. He throws his mid-90s four-seam fastball and sinker most of the time while mixing in a slider, changeup and curveball. The slider is his most effective offspeed pitch and it produces the most swings and missed of his pitches.
His results so far this year have been sub-par after a below-average 2016 season. He had a 4.67 ERA with a solid strikeout-to-walk ratio in 171 2/3 innings last year. This year, he has an identical 4.67 ERA but the peripherals are a lot worse. His strikeouts are down while his home runs and walks are up. His groundball percentage is a career-low and he's giving up a lot of line drives.
Still, Garcia has gone at least five innings in each of three appearances this year. His best performance came in his last time out, when he tossed 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball while allowing eight baserunners.
The southpaw faced the Phillies one time last season on May 5 and threw seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits. He's 3-4 with a 2.82 ERA over 51 innings in his career against the Phils.
Current Phillies are just 2 for 25 against Garcia with six strikeouts. Freddy Galvis is 0 for 9 while Cameron Rupp and Michael Saunders are both 1 for 3.
3. Future of the NL East
While the Phillies and Braves are currently projected to finish at the bottom of the NL East, there are plenty of reasons to believe that both teams are on the rise and could rival each other for the division crown in a few years' time.
When looking at the current top teams, there is a pair of closing windows. A lot of the Nationals' roster is over 30, including its ace and key cogs in their lineup, and they have the looming free agency of Bryce Harper coming up in the 2018-19 offseason. The Mets' offensive core is also on the wrong side of 30 and their stout pitching staff can't stay on the field. The Mets' window may be able to stay open a little longer, but the team may need an overhaul in the near future.
The Marlins were hoping to push into contention this season, but the untimely death of Jose Fernandez pushed the franchise into a weird in-between with an OK roster and a farm system bereft of talent. That leaves a chance for a rise from the Braves and Phillies, both of whom have minor league talent that positions them well moving forward.
You likely know some about the Phillies' farm system. A consensus top 10 system in all of baseball, the Phillies' crop is headlined by 2016 No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak, shortstop J.P. Crawford and Colombian catcher Jorge Alfaro, the latter two on the cusp of the majors. Beyond them, there's Nick Williams, Roman Quinn and others on the position player side with Sixto Sanchez and Franklyn Kilome as young pitchers drawing rave reviews.
While the Phillies seem stocked with young talent, the Braves outrank everyone. Going into the 2017 season, most outlets, ranging from Baseball America to MLB Pipeline, had the Braves as the top farm system in all of baseball. It's truly that good. Since opening day, shortstop Dansby Swanson lost prospect status, but they still boast serious talent. Ozzie Albies and Kevin Maitan are considerable middle infield talents. Outfielder Ronald Acuna is also top 10 in the system. However, the Braves' small army of pitching prospects including Kolby Allard and Ian Anderson handed the Braves the No. 1 ranking.
Both the Phillies and Braves have some talent already on their roster and if even a portion of their systems pans out, we could see a Phillies-Braves rivalry popping up in the 2020s.
4. Players to watch
Phillies: Aaron Altherr has a five-game hitting streak after another two-hit night Friday. He had an RBI double and brought his season average to .360. He's currently slugging .600.
Braves: Nick Markakis has had a hot April, which is a bit unusual. His best months are typically July and August, but he's already tallied six extra-base hits this year and is slugging over .400, something he hasn't done over a full season since 2012.
5. This and that
• Joely Rodriguez has rebounded from an ugly start to the season. He had an 11.81 ERA through four appearances but has thrown four scoreless appearances with just one hit allowed in his last three games.
• The Braves' back-end of the bullpen is off to a solid start. Jose Ramirez, Arodys Vizcaino and Jim Johnson have tossed 23 2/3 innings and given up five runs.
• After Friday's win, the Phillies are 3-5 this year in one-run games. The Braves fell to 2-4 with their loss.
