The Phillies are making a change to the rotation.
Prior to Tuesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants, Bailey Falter was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Right-handed reliever Erich Uelmen was recalled to take his spot on the 26-man roster.
Falter, 26, allowed eight hits and six unearned runs in Monday night’s loss to the Giants. He has a 6.57 ERA over his last three starts.
It’s been a struggle for Falter, who won the No. 5 starter’s job in camp after Andrew Painter suffered a UCL sprain in spring training.
“Basically, it’s just a reset,” manager Rob Thomson told reporters pregame. “Go down there and get outs. Get some confidence. That’s really what it’s all about.”
Thomson doesn’t quite know yet what the Phillies’ plan will be for Sunday against the Chicago Cubs, which is when Falter’s next start would have come. There are several options, but no obvious good ones.
They could go with a bullpen game if the bullpen is fresh. But as evidenced down the stretch last season, bullpen games every fifth day aren’t exactly sustainable. Matt Strahm could be a bulk pitcher in that scenario on Sunday, but to do that every fifth day would “be tough to do,” Thomson said. “It’d have to work out perfect every one of those starts to have enough bullpen to get through it.”
They could call Cristopher Sánchez or Michael Plassmeyer up from Triple-A for a more conventional start, but neither has pitched particular well at Lehigh Valley, each sporting ERAs over 6.00.
Thomson said that if the Phillies were to go with a traditional starter, it would likely be someone not currently on the 40-man roster. (Sánchez and Plassmeyer are on it.) Noah Skirrow, pitching Tuesday for Lehigh Valley, has made six appearances (five starts) at Triple-A this year, and though his 5.9 K/9 is modest, he’s pitched to a 3.52 ERA. He could be an option, especially because he’s lined up to make his next start (wherever that might be) on Sunday.
“The stuff’s not gonna overwhelm you, but he throws strikes, he knows how to pitch, he knows how to keep people off balance,” Thomson said of Skirrow. “And he’s Canadian. So you know his toughness.”
Sunday’s starter could theoretically be Zack Wheeler, who will pitch on Tuesday in San Francisco, but Thomson said that at this point, it’s more likely that the Phillies give him his originally planned extra day of rest and pitch on Monday instead.
Falter won the No. 5 spot in the rotation in part due to a spring injury to Painter, the 20-year-old top overall prospect in the Phillies’ organization. “Let’s get him healthy first,” Thomson said Tuesday when asked whether Painter could an option for the fifth spot once healthy. “He’s always been a consideration, obviously. But he’s gotta be healthy.”
Nick Nelson would likely have been a frontrunner for a starter or bulk role if not for a recent injury during a Triple-A start. Nelson is on the injured list, but Thomson doesn’t think it’s a long-term injury. The Phillies initially believed it was a hamstring injury — which sidelined him earlier this season — but Thomson clarified it’s a glute instead.
Thomson said that the Phillies would ideally need at least three “bulk” pitchers of the Strahm or Nelson ilk on the roster in order to patchwork a bullpen game every fifth day. Even if the Phillies went that route, using an opener before the bulk reliever, it would hamstring the bullpen in the other four turns through the rotation.
Among Falter’s struggles this year has been his diminished fastball velocity. Thomson said he was surprised Falter’s velocity on Monday didn’t jump after an extra day of rest, but that his performance is more a byproduct of confidence (or lack thereof) than velocity or mechanics.
“Really, it’s about executing pitches and getting people out,” Thomson said. “I think a lot of it has to do with confidence. Everybody loses confidence at some point. They go through a little bit of a slump. Sometimes you just need a little bit of a reset. We saw it with Alvarado last year.”
In an ideal world for the Phillies, that reset will work for Falter, and he’ll become the reliable rotation arm he was in the second half of last season.
Until then, the Phillies will have to get creative to piece together 27 outs every fifth day — and the options at their disposal are anything but ideal.
Destiny Lugardo contributed to this report.
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