Phillies manager Rob Thomson gave his mental Rubik’s Cube a few more twists and then revealed before Saturday’s game how he plans to cope with the better-then-the-alternative problem of having more starting pitchers (six) than openings in the rotation (five).
Lefthander Cristopher Sanchez will not start Monday against the Giants as originally scheduled. Instead, he’ll tentatively start Tuesday with four additional days of rest. That, too, could change if he was needed out of the bullpen Saturday night.
The pitcher most impacted by all the machinations the unforgiving math created, is righthander Spencer Turnbull, even though he’s 2-0, 1.67 in six starts this season. He will be available out of the bullpen Sunday night and, if he isn’t needed in a long role, could piggyback with Sanchez on Tuesday.
“He can do a lot of different things,” Thomson said of the 31-year-old righthander. “He can give you length, obviously. He gives us another (reliever) to get on righthanded hitters, because we’ve struggled a little bit with that. And I have the confidence to put him into leverage (situations) so for the time being I think that’s the right way to go.
“He wants to start. But he said that at the end of the day he’ll do anything to help the team win.”
The manager conceded that he’s reluctant to mess with success, but sees this as the best option. “There is concern. He’s pitched so well,” he said. “But there’s always concern when you do something like that. That’s why it’s a tough situation.”
Turnbull has made just one relief appearance in his big league career, for the Tigers in 2018.
The ripple effect of all this is that Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola will both start on the fifth day in their next starts. Both had extra rest going into their last starts and struggled somewhat with command.
Everything is written in pencil right now. A 6-man rotation isn’t out of the question at some point in the future. Neither is having Turnbull start instead of Sanchez if starting a righthander against a certain lineup is deemed advantageous.
Giants RHP Logan Webb (3-2, 2.98) will face RHP Taijuan Walker (1-0, 8.53) in Sunday’s night’s ESPN game beginning at 7:10 p.m. It will be a to-be-announced San Francisco pitcher vs. Wheeler (3-3, 1.91) Monday at 4:05 p.m.
After that, stay tuned.
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Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
