PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. — Last July, it appeared all but certain that Jeremy Hellickson would finish the season wearing something other than red pinstripes. He had pitched well, the trade market was barren, and the Phillies were not invested long term in the veteran righthander.
But Hellickson is now the team's highest-paid player, and for the second straight season, he will start the first game.
The team on Sunday named Hellickson, who turns 30 in April, its opening-day starter. The 2017 season will begin just as the 2016 one did, with Hellickson on the mound at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.