Phillies news and rumors 5/10: Bailey Falter’s next start, John Middleton on Phillies early struggles

The Phillies are reportedly making a slight change to the rotation.

The Athletic’s Matt Gelb is hearing that the Phillies are expected to skip Bailey Falter’s next scheduled start, which was slated for some time during next weekend’s series against the Colorado Rockies.

As Gelb outlined, this is all possible with the off days in the Phillies schedule. Taijuan Walker could pitch Friday on regular rest. Ranger Suárez, who is expected to be activated this weekend, could pitch Friday. Nola could return on regular rest. The Phillies are off again Thursday and have had off days this past Monday and Thursday.

Falter is struggling. He allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings in his last start against the Red Sox. Three of his first five starts have been solid, but his last two have not been great. The Phillies are 1-6 when Falter starts.

John Middleton on Phillies struggles

Phillies managing partner John Middleton gave an interesting answer when asked about his team’s early season struggles at Aaron Nola’s “Bowling for the Troops” charity event on Monday night. The audio comes from the WIP Midday Show:

I thought we’d been frankly a little bit ahead of where we are right now. We got a rough start. Lot of injuries. A lot of key injuries. Bryce obviously being down, but Ranger being down is also big and Painter being hurt. Then of course we lost Rhys and we lost Rhys’ replacement Darick Hall. We’re playing pretty well for a team that’s as badly injured as any team in baseball.

John Middleton on the Phillies’ early-season struggles via 94 WIP

Do you agree with Middleton’s assessment?

Yes, the Phillies have been hurt by injuries to key players, but you can make the argument that the Phillies are the least injured team compared to the Braves and Mets. Max Fried, Kyle Wright, Travis d’Arnaud, Orlando Arcia and Michael Harris II have all spent time on the injured list for Atlanta this season. Edwin Diaz is lost for the year and the Mets have only gotten six starts out of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, their two $40 million dollar aging co-aces.

It’s a long way of saying that injuries should not be the main excuse for the Phillies’ poor play over the first five weeks of the season.

Must-Read (Or Watch) Phillies Content

• Andrew Painter was in Philadelphia on Tuesday for a visit. Rob Thomson explained why the Phillies decided to fly in Painter.
• The Phillies are reportedly heading to London for a series with the Mets in 2024.
• The Inquirer has a feature out on Dr. Steven Cohen, the Phillies’ head team physician.
• Rob Bradford of WEEI has a great new episode of his podcast “Baseball Isn’t Boring” featuring Brandon Marsh, Aaron Nola and Bryce Harper.
• Nick Castellanos had a great answer when asked about what it was like to greet his son Liam near the dugout after a home run.

Nick Castellanos on greeting his son Liam after a HR: "It's everything. … My kids are the most important thing so to be able to share the game that a selfishly love and then be able to share it with my kids who I selflessly love, it doesn't get much better than that."

— Destiny Lugardo (@destiny_lugardo) May 10, 2023

Former Phillies Watch

• Ben Lively, who played for the Phillies from 2017 to 2018, is finally back in the majors. His contract was selected by the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. He spent the past three seasons with the Samsung Lions of the KBO in South Korea.
• Nick Pivetta got shelled against the Braves, allowing seven earned runs over four innings. He was a little irritated when a reporter asked if he feels like he needs to audition to stay in Boston’s rotation.

It doesn’t sound like Nick Pivetta will accept being moved to the bullpen..
pic.twitter.com/YwaixmertU

— Boston Strong (@BostonStrong_34) May 10, 2023

• Noah Syndergaard left his start after just one inning pitched with a cut on his right index finger.

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