With the recent postponements due to inclimate weather, the Phillies will finish out their regular season with no off days. The whole team will be exhausted but even more of burden will be placed upon this starting rotation. As the Phillies begin to make their push to the playoffs they should at least consider going to a six man rotation.Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels are near the top in the National League in innings pitched. Halladay has pitched 189, Lee has pitched 186, and Hamels has tossed 172 frames. As we near the end of the regular season it might not be a bad idea to give the big three some rest by adding an extra starter.
Adding Kendrick into the rotation along with Hamels, Halladay, Lee, Oswalt, and Worley would give the big three 5 or more days off between starts and would properly prepare and rest them for baseball in October. It would aslo help out Oswalt who is still recovering from a back injury.
The sixth starter the Phils would be adding would be Kendrick and it’s not like he has been terrible this year. In 13 starts this year Kendrick is 7-6 with a 3.29 ERA and has been a very solid back of the rotation starter.
Forget about personal achievements and awards and focus on getting these pitchers rested for October. Halladay, Hamels, and Lee have been laboring all season and a few extra days off in the final month of the season could do them and the team some good.
The workload of the starting rotation will get even more strenuous once the post season begins as they will be called to go on 4 and even 3 days rest in some cases. A six man rotation is a good solution to get these guys proper rest for the post season.
Charlie Manuel should at least consider the notion of going to a six man rotation to keep everyone fresh and well rested for the post season. If he doesn’t the Phils starters could have little left in the tank come October.
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