Vince Velasquez will maintain tenuous hold on the Phillies’ fifth-starter spot, at least for now

ATLANTA -- Vince Velasquez will keep taking the fifth.

Unless Phillies general manager Matt Klentak is able to swing a deal this week — and that’s unlikely given that the trade deadline is still four weeks away and most teams remain in stand-pat mode — Velasquez will start Friday night’s series opener in New York against the Mets, manager Gabe Kapler announced Tuesday.

“We went through kind of every possible look for the rotation,” Kapler said, before the Phillies settled on giving Velasquez another shot. The right-hander has allowed nine runs on 11 hits in 11⅔ innings over three starts since being reinserted into the rotation. But it’s clear that Kapler prefers him over the alternatives, chiefly triple-A options Cole Irvin and Enyel De Los Santos.

Klentak was decidedly against jumping into the starting-pitching market at the trade deadline last year. He said last week that he would be more open to acquiring a starter this season because of the struggles of Velasquez, Jerad Eickhoff, Irvin and other No. 5 starter candidates.

Excluding a spot start for De Los Santos, in which he allowed four runs in four innings on June 23, Phillies starters had combined for a 5.49 ERA in the last two turns through the rotation entering Tuesday night.

The Phillies took advantage of Monday’s off-day to tweak the rotation and get ace Aaron Nola an extra start before the All-Star Break. Nola started Tuesday night here at SunTrust Park against the Braves and will face the Mets on Sunday. Jake Arrieta will start the middle game in New York on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the Mets will counter with their three best starters: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler. The Phillies faced only Wheeler in last week’s four-game sweep at Citizens Bank Park.

Kapler mourned the death of 27-year-old Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, with whom he worked out for several offseasons at Pepperdine University in Malibu. “We lost somebody that’s honest, open, caring, humble, hard-working,” Kapler said. “He was all of those things. It’s a big loss.” ... Nick Pivetta (4-2, 5.63 ERA) will start Wednesday night against Braves right-hander Bryse Wilson (0-0, 8.31).