NEW YORK — It’s safe to finally talk about the playoffs.
Rob Thomson, before Saturday, was hesitant to answer questions about postseason roster construction until now.
Now we have a better understanding of what the Phillies are thinking. At least for a potential National League Division Series, expect the Phillies to carry an additional bench player over another reliever.
“I think we have more options offensively than we’ve had in the last two years,” Thomson said Saturday in New York.
The four bench players who began the season in Lehigh Valley, Weston Wilson, Kody Clemens, Buddy Kennedy and Cal Stevenson, have all had their moments this season. Wilson hit for the cycle on Aug. 16, Clemens had a walk-off base hit on Sept. 9, Kennedy had a game-tying double against the Mets on Sept. 15 and the day before, Stevenson hit a two-run double to put the Phillies ahead and made a game-saving catch at the wall in center field a half inning later.
Much of it will come down to matchups. If the Phillies were to draw the Mets, they could lean lefty heavy as the Mets bullpen only has two lefties and none of them are high leverage guys. On the other hand, the Brewers have lefties Holby Milner, Aaron Ashby, Jared Koenig and potentially DL Hall in their bullpen.
The point of carrying a bigger bench is to exploit advantages late in game against relievers. For example, if Brandon Marsh is due up to hit with the tying run on base with a lefty on the mound in the eighth inning, Thomson might give the at-bat to Wilson, Edmundo Sosa or Kennedy.
The Phillies manager said he would like to get guys more pinch hit opportunities during the final week of the season. Those at-bats could serve as somewhat of an audition.
“There’s something about being comfortable doing that,” Thomson said.
Regardless of who gets the final two or three roster spots for the Division Series, Thomson should feel really good about what he has.
Teams can carry up to 26 players, including 13 pitchers. The guess here is that the Phillies go with 12 pitchers and 14 position players.
Pitching Staff: Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez, Jeff Hoffman, Orion Kerkering, Carlos Estevez, Jose Ruiz, José Alvarado, Matt Strahm, Tanner Banks and Taijuan Walker
It’s obvious who the top four starters will be. The Phillies have an intriguing decision to make on who will start a Game 2: Aaron Nola or Cristopher Sánchez. Many have pointed out Sánchez’s home and road splits — a 2.05 ERA at home and 5.02 ERA — and wondered if that’s all the evidence the Phillies need to start Sánchez at Citizens Bank Park in Game 2 assuming the Phillies have home-field advantage.
“I thought, ‘Well, maybe he’s pitching against better teams on the road,'” Thomson said Friday. “It’s not. It’s the same. In fact, he might be pitching against better teams at home. There’s something to it, for sure.”
But even if these splits weren’t so pronounced, Sánchez has been better than Nola this year. That should be enough to make it a tough call for the Phillies.
As far as the last spot in the bullpen goes, Thomson likes to carry a multi-inning, low leverage guy he only intends to use in an extended extra-innings scenario. Whether you like it or not, it’s probably going to be Taijuan Walker because the Phillies don’t have many other great options behind him.
Position Players: Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, Nick Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, Austin Hays, Johan Rojas, Garrett Stubbs, Edmundo Sosa, Weston Wilson and Kody Clemens
It sounds like Austin Hays (kidney infection) is probably going to be on the playoff roster. He will play left field on Sunday after DHing on Saturday and is expected to be activated on Tuesday. The Phillies will use the next week along with the days leading up to the Division Series to get him back into the rhythm of playing. It’s unclear if the Phillies will slot him back into an everyday role or have him platoon in left field with Marsh as many thought the Phillies would do when they acquired him at the trade deadline.
As far as the last two bench spots go, it’s easy to default to Wilson and Clemens, who have spent the most time on the big league roster among the group of IronPigs players who have come up as injury replacements. With Clemens, there is a certain trust factor in his ability to take an at-bat late in the game. It’s a small sample size, but in “high leverage at-bats” this season, Clemens is 8-for-23 with five extra-base hits, according to Baseball Reference.
Wilson has mashed lefties. Heading into Saturday’s game, Wilson batted .359 with seven extra-base hits against left-handed pitchers this season.
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