Rob Thomson Won’t Tempt the Baseball Gods, Will Rely on His Big Guns for Upcoming Atlanta Series

For the last few days, there’s been a lot of discussion about what the Phillies rotation will look like for their upcoming series in Atlanta. Would they go to a six-man rotation? Would they look to get guys like Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola an extra day’s rest? Would they go with a bullpen game?

It now looks like none of that will happen and the Phillies will throw their three best (available) guys in Atlanta.

Rob Thomson announced Zack Wheeler will go Tuesday, Aaron Nola on Wednesday, and while Thursday is still technically a TBA, it sounded a lot like it’ll be Cristopher Sanchez.

This might seem like a bit of a non-story – the Phillies are going to throw their best pitchers in a series against the team closest to them in the division standings in August. And when you say it like that, yeah, it’s more of a no-brainer philosophically, but there is more nuance to it.

First of all, it was Thomson who was coy about the rotational setup for the last few days. He kept saying he had to talk to Wheeler to see if he could use another day off. Then, on Saturday, when he preemptively announced the Phillies were sending Tyler Phillips back to Triple-A, he suggested a bullpen game could be in the offing for Atlanta. It made more sense a day after they pushed Nola to 111 pitches – a season high and the most he’d thrown in a game since July 25th, 2021, when he threw 116 pitches.

#Phillies Aaron Nola Pitch Quality

The quality of this pitch was 5.19 QOP Value#MLB #RingTheBell https://t.co/nLQCc68tCC

— MLB Quality of Pitch (@qopbaseball) August 17, 2024

Maybe they’d schedule a bullpen game in the second game of the series and give Nola an extra day off after that heavy lift. It made sense if you went off of what Thomson was saying.

But none of those machinations are going to happen. The Phillies have their sights set on this series. They view it as a chance to bury the Braves and put them on a very real trajectory to lock up the N.L. East.

Giving Wheeler, Nola, or even Sanchez an extra day off can still happen. A six-man rotation is still on the docket, but likely not until September when they can add an extra arm without putting the bullpen at risk of being taxed.

For now, it’s full speed ahead – and dispatch the Braves.

Regardless of what happens Sunday – the Phillies will have anywhere from a 7-9 game lead over the Braves heading into that series. Not letting that get any closer is the goal – and why the rotation is what it is.

Each of Wheeler, Nola and Sanchez looked sharp in their last starts. All three pitched deep into the game. They combined to allow just two earned runs in three games.

The thought process is, if they can stay on their calendar, and pitch with regular rest for the next couple of times through, the possibility of giving them extra time will come into play in games with a little less pressure. Sure, there’s still the race for home field advantage throughout the playoffs, but the Phillies currently have a 1 1/2-game lead there and if they do what they plan to do against Atlanta, there’s a chance that gap could start to grow again as well.

Sanchez is the one guy they want to check-in on over the next couple days after his complete game win on Saturday night – his second complete game of the season. But even Thomson admitted that while it’s still TBA, Sanchez is a bit of a freak of nature.

“He was out there today (Sunday) playing long toss,” Thomson said. “He’s incredible.”

That was about 14 hours after throwing 99 pitches and facing just two batters over the minimum in the 5-1 win over Washington.

Cristopher Sánchez with the CG gem (9IP 2H 1ER 0BB 4K) last night for the @Phillies.
His changeup was especially filthy – generating a StuffPro of -2.4 and winning our Starting Pitcher Pitch of the Day pic.twitter.com/cUcpyP3S6j

— Baseball Prospectus (@baseballpro) August 18, 2024

The Phillies also gave Bryce Harper the day off Sunday and J.T. Realmuto took a seat after catching five straight games. Thomson said both were planned off days and that it gives two of their more important players two days off before the Atlanta series.

Thomson admitted that Harper’s timing has been off the last few games. but that the decision to rest him was made well before his hiccup in production.

“He starts over-swinging at times, and it’s become a little bit of a bad habit,” Thomson said. “I think a couple of days off will help him.”

Realmuto played five straight games for the first time since returning from his left meniscus tear. He’s been better offensively lately as well. He’s 9-for-29 (.310) in his last eight games and has an OPS of .852 in that span. He played five straight because Washington had three straight left-handed pitchers in the first three games of the series. It allows them to get Garrett Stubbs his weekly start against a righty on Sunday.

Thomson said he checks in with Realmuto every day to see how he’s feeling to make sure he’s OK.

“He feels good,” Thomson said. “If he said anything then I’d just take him out.”

How often does he say anything, though?

“Not very often,” Thomson said with a smile.

And you can bet he’s not going to say anything unless it’s seriously debilitating in the Braves series, because even though they won’t say it, the Phillies are viewing it as the biggest series of the season to this point.

It’s also why Thomson didn’t want to talk about his team stemming the tide a bit this past week and getting back on the winning track.

When asked if he felt like they had righted the ship in time for that trip to Atlanta, Thomson didn’t want to say anything out loud.

“I believe in the baseball gods,” he said. “As soon as you say everything’s great, then it all falls apart.”

The post Rob Thomson Won’t Tempt the Baseball Gods, Will Rely on His Big Guns for Upcoming Atlanta Series appeared first on Crossing Broad.