No obvious option for Wednesday start
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
No obvious option for Wednesday start
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Phillies need a starting pitcher for Wednesday's game, and as Charlie Manuel sauntered to the batting cage before Monday's win, he offered no hints.
"We don't know yet," Manuel said. "Seriously, we don't."
Pitching coach Rich Dubee and Manuel later discussed their options, and there is no obvious one. The need for a sixth starter was prompted by Sunday's doubleheader.
Kyle Kendrick could pitch on three days' rest, but that's unlikely, and would also force either Cliff Lee or Cole Hamels to do the same Thursday. Kendrick threw 93 pitches in four innings Saturday.
Triple-A Lehigh Valley's scheduled starter Wednesday is lefty Tom Cochran, who has spent 10 seasons in the minors without a taste of the big leagues. Double-A Reading is scheduled to throw Julio Rodriguez, a 21-year-old prospect with all of 14 starts above single A.
They could hand the game over to the bullpen and have, say, Raul Valdes start. He could possibly stretch to three innings and then it would be all hands on deck. But judging how the bullpen has fared this season, blowing the whole unit on one night may be counter intuitive.
Tyler Cloyd has a 2.17 ERA in 11 triple-A starts, but he last started Saturday. He threw 96 pitches and would have to make his major-league debut on short rest if he were to start Wednesday. Hard to see that.
Veteran Scott Elarton has 170 career major-league starts to his name — although none since 2007. But he pitched Sunday for the IronPigs and that pushes him out of the mix.
A few Twitter followers mentioned the recently released Jamie Moyer, but it's difficult to see the Phillies signing the 49-year-old lefty for one start. You never know, of course. UPDATE: Moyer signed a minor-league deal with injury-ravaged Toronto early Tuesday morning.
Either way, the Phillies aren't exactly flush with exciting options.
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Poll: Who is most likely to still be a Phillie next year?
Buy Phillies tickets 
Mick0- most intelligent post I've read today. Good one.— rockinginthefreeworld- Cloyd on thursday and KK on wednesday.— Pap
- Larry Anderson, with Rickey Bo to close— tony bell
Comment removed.- I agree, pitch KK then see what Cloyd got! Give him a taste of the big leagues for a few innings. They babie these pitchers too long and by the time they get to the big leagues, their arms are half worn out already. Keeping them in AAA too long just makes sissys out of them and very few can complete a full game.— huntnmike3666
- kendrick on 3 days rest. he only pitched 4 inn. his last time out. move everyone up on 3 days rest. they're all millionaires!— koslosky
- Seriously folks, Mick0 has nailed it. After Friday night's rainout necessitated the DH on Sunday, there's no excuse for Cholly and Dubee, on Saturday morning, to not plan ahead for the next 5 days. Bringing a pitcher up on Sunday would have meant not having to tamper with the 40 man roster and kept everyone on regular rest. I've been supporting Cholly and Rube since day 1 but this is beginning to get scary when you say you don't have a plan on Tuesday for Wednesday's starter.— rockinginthefreeworld
- Why dont they pitch Manuel according to him he is good at everything— gates2012
- Elarton has been hammered for 4 starts in a row.— NewMick314
- Another example of the incompetence of Manuel and dubbe aka dumb and dumber— gates2012
