PHILADELPHIA – Two Phillies starters, Andrew Painter and Cristopher Sanchezwill pitch on normal rest this week.
The Phillies are moving up the start dates of both Painter and Sánchez after the off day on Monday, pushing back a potential bullpen game that would have been Thursday had the Phillies kept the rotation as is.
Painter will start Thursday’s series finale against Milwaukee. Interim manager Don Mattingly made the announcement before the game.
After the 4-1 loss against the Brewers, Mattingly said that Sánchez, who last pitched on Sunday in New York, will start Friday’s series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays. It could be an abbreviated start if the Phillies clinch a postseason berth on Thursday.
Starting Sánchez on Friday will line him up to pitch Game 2 of the wild card series on normal rest.
The Phillies could either go with a bullpen game on Saturday or start Jose Urquidy. Zack Wheeler could start on Sunday in the nightmare scenario of the Phillies not having clinched yet. If the Phillies are in the tournament by then, they could try to bullpen their way through nine innings again in the regular series finale.
Nestor Corteswho threw three innings on Sept. 19 for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, could be a candidate to eat innings on Sunday.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in New York that the club prefers to line up the pitching as opposed to going for home-field advantage or a higher seed.
“I’d love to have home-field advantage,” Dombrowski told the media, including On Pattison’s Anthony San Filippo. “Everybody wants home-field advantage, but playing on the road with our club doesn’t really bother me.”
The Phillies could try to get an inning this weekend out of the bullpen for Painter, who could be used as a reliever during the wild card series. The club, for now, is playing things close to the vest.
“Really, no plan at this point with what we’re going to do,” Mattingly said pregame when asked if Painter could pitch out of the bullpen over the weekend. “Just win tonight. Then we can take care of it. Then we can talk about it.”
The Phillies will have to wait at least one more night. The magic number remains at 2 heading into Thursday’s game. The Arizona Diamondbacks won their game against the Colorado Rockies. They are still alive, but holding on for dear life and hoping for a Phillies collapse.
Philadelphia got an OK start out of Aaron Nolawho allowed four runs on four hits, including two solo home runs. He could start a potential Game 3 of a wild card series, assuming Jesus Luzardo (left shoulder inflammation) comes back as a reliever for the postseason.
Overall, Nola finished the year with a 7-11 record and 4.54 ERA in 32 starts.
“Felt like I pitched a lot better in the second half than I did in the first,” Nola said. “Felt like I found a groove. Everything was a little bit sharper: delivery, body, pitches were a little bit sharper, better locations. Felt like I was mixing it a little bit better than I was in the first half.”
