With Vince Velazquez making his yearly stint on the Injured List the Phillies called upon their 16th ranked prospect to take the ball in a Mother’s Day start against the Royals.

The Phillies drafted the left-hander in the fifth round of the 2016 draft out of the University of Oregon. The six-foot-four southpaw is coming off a strong 2018 season that saw him take home the International League’s Pitcher of the Year Award after throwing 161 innings with a 2.57 ERA. He has picked up where he left off so far in 2019 amassing a 2.25 ERA in 36 innings for LeHigh Valley. Irvin throws five pitches, but has shown above-average command of all five offerings. He has three fastballs and will cut it, throw a traditional 4-seamer and also throw a 2 -seamer. He has a change up that he uses against righties and also has a curveball.

For what Irvin lacks in upside he makes up for with pitchibility and command. He sequences well, and limits walks which is enough to profile as a backend big league starter. Irvin had Tommy John surgery while at the University of Oregon. Irvin sits 88-91 with the fastball, but keeps hitters off balance with above average command and advanced sequencing. He’s a boring, but solid strike-thrower, and has nothing left to prove in Triple-A. Irvin is a streamer for me in fantasy formats, but is a potentially strong ratio play if you can find the strikeouts elsewhere.