BRADENTON, Fla. — Even if Vince Velasquez's mid-90s fastball is flashier than Brett Oberholtzer's upper-80s heater, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin isn't ready to give the young right-hander an edge in the fifth-starter battle just yet.
Both pitched three scoreless innings in the Phillies' quick, 1-0 win over the Pirates Monday at McKechnie Field. Both allowed four baserunners, with Velasquez striking out three and inducing two double plays and Oberholtzer whiffing one.
Mackanin likes Velasquez's live arm (see story) but wants to see more pitchability from the 23-year-old fireballer.
"Velasquez is a power pitcher obviously and I need to see a little more finesse from him," Mackanin said. "In a three-inning stint it's hard to do. Today, everything was hard, hard, hard. I want to see a little finesse from him."
Finesse is a word that better describes Oberholtzer, who relies on command and groundballs to be successful. The 26-year-old Delaware native has 253⅔ big-league innings under his belt with the Astros the last three seasons and has a 3.94 ERA with just 2.1 walks per nine innings. His stuff isn't as sexy as Velasquez's, but he has more experience and he's a lefty, which the Phillies don't project to have in the opening day rotation — Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton are all right-handers. Mackanin said during the offseason that the Phils don't necessarily need a left-handed starter, but there are few rotations around baseball that feature five arms from the same side.
"I like the way that he attacks the zone," Mackanin said of Oberholtzer. "He's an aggressive pitcher. Everything I've seen so far I've liked."
It's not the easiest task for Oberholtzer, battling with the younger guy with more upside and a bigger arm, following 95-mph heaters with 88. But he's used to this. He had to battle for jobs every spring with Houston, and he's had to battle with Velasquez for innings before. (They were two of five pitchers traded to the Phils from the Astros in the Ken Giles trade.)
MLB
"I’ve never been handed a job," Oberholtzer said Monday. "In my mind, I’ve always competed to the best of my ability no matter what the team has planned for me.
"That’s why they brought us over here. I’ve competed with him before, the last few seasons with the Astros, so for me I don’t look at it any differently than the way I have."
The game
The only run scored on an Andres Blanco RBI double. It was Blanco's first game of the spring after missing some time with a shoulder injury. Blanco was the only Phillie to have a multi-hit game.
Brock Stassi again impressed defensively at first base. At 26, he's not a prospect, but the Phillies don't really have a true first baseman of the future, so any good will he can build in this big-league camp could be crucial.
"He looks like a Gold Glove-caliber defender," Mackanin said. "The guy makes play after play — the routine ones, the diving ones, finesse ones, body-control plays. He just plays with a lot of confidence out there."
Bullpen notes
Gregory Infante, Colton Murray and Hector Neris each pitched a scoreless inning to end the game. Infante struck out the side in the seventh.
In the field
The Phils turned three double plays and got an outfield assist from leftfielder Darnell Sweeney.
Oberholtzer picked a runner off.
Back home
David Buchanan started a game back at Bright House Field on Monday against Keio, a Japanese college team. He allowed two runs, both unearned, over three innings.
Pitching probables
The Phillies and Pirates play again Tuesday, this time in Clearwater. Adam Morgan will start and Andrew Bailey will make his second spring appearance out of the bullpen.