Phillies-Pirates 5 Things: Young Flamethrowers Duel in Rubber Match

Phillies (45-54) vs. Pirates (50-47)
1:35 p.m. on CSN

A poor start from Aaron Nola gave the Pirates the second game of this three-game set, so the series comes down to Sunday. Both teams will toss out one of their top young pitchers with Vince Velasquez going for the Phillies and Jameson Taillon for the Pirates. 

Five things to know before the Sunday afternoon tilt.

1. Re-examining the Phillies bullpen
With a week to go before the trade deadline, let's take a look at how the Phillies' bullpen has performed before it may lose a piece or two by Aug. 1. 

Over the last 30 days, the bullpen as a whole has been middle of the pack, ranking 17th in MLB with a 4.19 ERA but third in baseball with a 3.18 FIP (fielding-independent pitching). That indicates that the 'pen has done a good job of limiting walks and home runs while striking out enough batters and may just be the victim of bad batted ball luck.

In fact, the bullpen has the second-best walk rate (2.22 per nine innings) in MLB over the last month while it is sixth with a HR rate of 0.74 per nine inning. Could the bullpen be getting better and just need some better luck on balls in play? 

Now to the individual players. The three most intriguing players on the trade market are closer Jeanmar Gomez, set-up man Hector Neris and middle reliever David Hernandez. 

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Gomez and Neris appear to have taken legitimate steps forward this year. Gomez has a 2.13 ERA over his last 12 games, spanning 12 2/3 innings. Neris meanwhile has a 2.31 ERA in his last 12 games and has struck out over one batter an inning during that span, continuing to excel with his splitter.

Hernandez, signed to possibly take the closer role in the offseason, hasn't quite hit the stride some would have hoped for. He has struck out 11 batters over his last 10 innings, but he has given up nine hits and six walks during that time, allowing more than 1.5 baserunners per inning. 

Edubray Ramos has been used a fair amount over the last four weeks, making 12 appearances. He has a high ERA to show for it (5.06) however despite showing good overall stuff.

2. Pitching duel of the future?
Both the Pirates and Phillies send two potential righty aces to the mound Sunday in hopes of taking the rubber match of the mid-July series. First, a look into Jameson Taillon, who the Pirates drafted 2nd overall in the 2010 MLB draft.

Once a top 10 prospect in all of baseball, Taillon missed all of 2014 and 2015 with Tommy John surgery and a sports hernia, respectively. The 24-year-old made his MLB debut in June and has become a solid part of the Pirates' rotation.

In his short time in the majors, he's made six starts, going 2-1 with a 3.44 ERA. He's walked just five batters in 34 innings. However, he's also given up four home runs and 35 hits. 

Similar to Saturday's starter, Tyler Glasnow, Taillon is a tall righty who can throw the ball in the upper 90s. At 6-foot-5, he's can be overpowering while bringing a strong curveball that he utilizes as his main off-speed pitch.

Opposing Taillon is arguably the Phillies' best starter this year. Velasquez was drafted in the second round of that same 2010 draft. As he has all season, he continues to overpower hitters with his velocity and repertoire, fanning 98 batters this year. His 3.15 ERA and eight wins are best among the Phillies' young starters.

His last start was his fourth since returning from the disabled list, and he has allowed two or fewer runs in each start. He allowed just one run to the Marlins on Tuesday, giving up three hits and four walks in seven innings. Pitching deep into games like he did vs. Miami is the next frontier for the 24-year-old flamethrower.

3. Appreciating Tommy Joseph's July
Since he was called up for his debut in May, Tommy Joseph has shown flashes of brilliance with the bat. 

However, June was rough for the rookie. He batted just .204 and walked just two times while striking out in 23 of his 96 plate appearances. Sure, he hit five home runs, but when he wasn't hitting for power, he was doing little else.

That has changed in his 15 games this July. He's already hit five homers in just over half the plate appearances and walked six times. The walks are key. He's never been one to draw all that many walks even in the minors, so it shows he may be taking another step in his development. 

In all, he has 17 hits and 10 runs scored in just 44 at-bats and 12 starts this month. He's raised his average to .264 and has a slugging percentage of .529.

He has not only shown that  he can mash, which was already an assumption, but also that he can work at-bats and make things happen even when the ball isn't leaving the yard. He's looking more and more like building block.

4. Players to watch
Phillies: Cesar Hernandez has quietly hit over .300 in June and July, hitting single after single near the bottom of the order. His two hits and two RBIs pushed the Phillies ahead early in Saturday's loss.

Pirates: Josh Harrison, the opposing second baseman, has had the opposite situation in the last two months. After batting over .325 in April and May, he's hit .218 or worse in the last two months. His season average is down to .270 and his OPS is just .673.

5. This and that
• David Freese has the only prior plate appearance against Velasquez. He's 0 for 1 against him. No Phillies, as one could guess, have at-bats against Taillon in the majors.

• The Phillies haven't won a series against the Pirates since 2013. 

• Pirates closer Mark Melancon has a 1.10 ERA against the Phillies in 15 career appearances. It's his second best ERA against a team he's faced at least 10 times. (He has a 0.63 ERA against the Marlins in 16 games).

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