The Phillies came into the season with some questions on the pitching staff. They knew Aaron Nola was an ace (although he’s been decidedly less ace-like this year), they knew what Jake Arrieta was capable of, but they also knew he was on the decline.
Philadelphia also expected big things out of the combination of Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta and Zach Eflin in the back of the rotation. They didn’t get it.
All three of those back-end starters underwhelmed this year, but I’m still convinced that Eflin can still pitch pretty well.