The Philadelphia Phillies‘ season, which looked certain to end with a playoff berth weeks ago, is suddenly in danger of ending Sunday.
Their three consecutive losses, combined with the Arizona Diamondbacks’ six straight wins, have the teams separated by one game for the final National League wild-card berth with two games remaining. And because the D-backs (86-74) hold the tiebreaker over the Phillies (87-73), a tie would go to Arizona.
The Phillies were expected to use a bullpen game Saturday, Sept. 26 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Less than four hours before the scheduled first pitch, however, the Phillies changed their plans.
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Veteran right-hander Aaron Nola, who’s started 32 games this season, will start the game on two days’ rest instead.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And the Phillies aren’t hiding their desperation.
Nola, 33, is a former All-Star who’s collected Cy Young Award votes in four of his 12 MLB seasons. In his last start on Sept. 23 against the Milwaukee Brewers, Nola threw 88 pitches across six innings, allowing four runs.
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That raises the obvious question of how many pitches he can throw on such short rest — and suggests the bullpen will handle the majority of the game, after all.
The Phillies’ bullpen is hardly elite. Their 5.23 September ERA is 27th in the big leagues, better than only the struggling Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels. Their opponent, the Rays, have the best record of any American League team.
Nola is 7-11 with a 4.54 ERA this season, and will be counted on to pitch more in October. To get there, the Phillies have to clinch a postseason berth first — and ostensibly they felt Nola is their best option to accomplish the task.
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