Top Baseball Analyst Has High Hopes For Jerad Eickhoff

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Phillies pitcher Jerad Eickhoff is looking to build off of his strong 2016 season.

Eickhoff, 26, was 11-14 in his first full season with a 3.65 ERA, 42 walks, and 167 strikeouts.

In ESPN Insider's 2017 bold prediction piece, Buster Olney predicts Eickhoff "develops into one of the National League's most consistent starting pitchers."

"In the second half last year, Eickhoff walked only 13 in 88⅓ innings, as he worked in his curveball much more, building the velocity range of his pitches -- high to low -- up to about 16-18 mph," Olney wrote.

In Eickhoff's last six starts in 2016, he walked just four while striking out 33. He allowed just 27 hits and 10 earned runs in 35.2 innings over those final six games.