Lively has a path to the Phillies' rotation with Jerad Eickhoff (lat) and Mark Leiter (forearm) out injured, MLB.com reports.
Lively had been in consideration for the Phillies' fifth starter job until the signing of Jake Arrieta apparently ended that competition. Now, Eickhoff is out 6-to-8 weeks with a lat strain and the swingman Leiter is out a few weeks with a flexor strain. That leaves Lively competing with Zach Eflin, Drew Hutchison and Tom Eshelman for the final rotation spot. Lively posted a 4.26 ERA in 15 starts for Philadelphia last year, though his 5.58 xFIP suggests that he got rather lucky. His 14 percent strikeout rate leaves him overly reliant on batted-ball luck and limits his fantasy value.