Suggestion: 6-Man Rotation?
By Seth Everett
The Phillies are on fire. They are not only playing great baseball, but now that the trade deadline has come and gone, this team is starting to see the end of the season.
After sweeping the Colorado Rockies, they have an 8 game lead on the NL East. The lead is greater for the playoffs. There are still over 50 games left. What are we going to talk about for the next month and a half?
Kyle Kendrick's 8 strong innings gave me an idea. Remember when the Phillies came back from the All-Star break & Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay both struggled & Cliff Lee had a bad 1st inning? It wasn't because of the innings pitched in the All-Star Game, I believe it was a result of the long layoff during that week.
Long layoffs are not what makes these pitchers work. They feast on routine. Problem is, the palyoffs are anything but routine. The NLDS & NLCS are inundated with waiting, days off, workout days, & more waiting.
Here's the idea : From August 16th till September 4th, how does a 6-man rotation sound? Let Kendrick get 2 or 3 starts, and give the rest of the rotation an extra day between starts. That eases up on their innings, & allows them to go off of a routine a little just because that's what will happen during the playoffs.
I don't think the Phillies will go for it. I think the pitchers will want to reach certain milestones, & they do prefer the routine. But I don't want to throw caution to the wind, when the days off get mind-numbing, and the Phillies don't get good momentum.
This San Francisco series might be the biggest series the Phillies have left. I'll be previewing & analyzing the whole weekend, so check back here for audio, video, & series breakdowns.
