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Report: Red Sox Scouting Phillies Starter Jeremy Hellickson

By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- Philadelphia Phillies starter Jeremy Hellickson is potentially an affordable veteran option for the Red Sox to plug into the middle of the rotation rather than the top. It appears the team is shopping in his aisle.

According to a tweet by Jon Morosi of the MLB Network, the Red Sox have recently scouted Hellickson as "one of many rotation options they are considering." Hellickson, 29, is 6-6 with a 3.92 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 105 innings for the Phillies this season.

You may remember Hellickson's name from his time with the Tampa Bay Rays. He beat out Mark Trumbo and Eric Hosmer for American League Rookie of the Year honors in 2011 when he went 13-10 and posted a 2.95 ERA as a 24-year-old. Hellickson followed that up with a solid sophomore campaign and appeared to be on an ace-like trajectory, but dropped off with a 22-27 record and 4.86 ERA from 2013-2015 with the Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks.

In his first season with the Phillies, Hellickson has enjoyed his best season since 2012. He has posted a 2.90 ERA in his past five starts, presumably during the time that the Red Sox scouted him, but has also had bouts of inconsistency, allowing four or more earned runs in five of his 18 starts on the season.

Hellickson does not throw hard, keeping his four-seam and two-seam fastballs in the low-90s, but complements it well with a plus changeup that sits in the low-80s. He also throws a decent curveball and has added a slider to his pitch arsenal, according to Fangraphs, but is at his best when he commands his fastball-changeup combination.

I said in my column a month ago that Hellickson would automatically become the No. 2 starter on the Red Sox. Considering the continued strong performance of All-Star Steven Wright and solid June performance for Rick Porcello, Hellickson could be the No. 4 or No. 5 starter in the rotation as currently constituted - but, considering the inconsistency of the Red Sox starters over the course of the season, Hellickson could easily slide into the No. 2 role behind David Price if he can continue his solid pitching with a move to the American League.

Ideally, Hellickson is in the back of your rotation. It's discouraging that this is the kind of name Red Sox fans need to think about when trying to improve the rotation and Hellickson is far from the ace-level savior this staff needs. But he is certainly an improvement over the revolving door of garbage that has festered at the back end of the rotation in the first half of the season.

At this point, anyone's better than Clay Buchholz.

Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.

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