When the Phillies acquired left-hander Brett Oberholtzer as part of the Ken Giles trade with the Houston Astros, he immediately became a favorite to win the 5th starter job with the club, at least at the outset of the 2016 season.
That was for a few logical reasons. First, the 26-year old Oberholtzer was the candidate with the most experience and success in Major League Baseball. The Delaware native has tossed 253.2 innings over parts of three big league seasons in which he had made 42 starts.
Another factor that pushed Oberholtzer to the front of the race were that he was left-handed, and the other four rotation members entering the season – Jeremy Hellickson, Charlie Morton, Aaron Nola, and Jerad Eickhoff – are righties.