Phillies Pitcher Jerad Eickhoff Removed From The Starting Rotation

The Philadelphia Phillies have officially decided to shake up the rotation. On Tuesday, Jerad Eickhoff was moved back to the bullpen, as the Phillies now evaluate their options for a fifth starter.

This move comes after Eickhoff allowed a whopping five solo homers on Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Returning to the rotation has not worked out for him this season, as he's posted a 5.02 ERA, with 50 strikeouts in 57.1 innings, surrendering 16 home runs on the year.

With Dallas Keuchel officially off the market, the Phillies are now scrambling to figure out how to fill that void in the rotation. Whether they address the situation internally or externally remains to be seen.

They could look inwards and go with one of the bullpen arms they have now, like Vince Velasquez or Ranger Suarez, or they could look at Enyel De Los Santos or Cole Irvin, who are in Triple-A, but Gabe Kapler made it abundantly clear that the spot won't be rewarded to top pitching prospect Adonis Medina.

The Phillies will have some time to find a replacement for Eickhoff's next turn in the rotation, as he was slated to make a start against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. Considering that Irvin has had some positive outings with the big league club this year, there's a chance that he could make a spot start here, and potentially earn himself a short-term rotation gig.

It's starting to look like a big mistake that the Phillies didn't spend some of that 'stupid money' on Dallas Keuchel, as he's now joined an NL East rival at a time when the Phillies' rotation could use a major boost.