Phillies Notes: Off days and rain wreck Phillies pitchers' routines

WASHINGTON - In the last 10 days, the Phillies have had two scheduled off days, one rainout, and two lengthy rain delays. Whatever established routines the Phillies pitchers follow were ripped to shreds. The man in charge of keeping the best staff in baseball healthy and sharp was tossed a change-up.

"It's not fun," Rich Dubee said.

So the pitching coach improvised, first by inserting Kyle Kendrick into Friday's game instead of risking Roy Oswalt's back. Dubee must juggle the return of Cole Hamels along with yet another off day Thursday.

After Roy Halladay starts Sunday, Cliff Lee, Vance Worley, and Kendrick will pitch against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park before Thursday's off day and Hamels' return on Friday against the visiting Florida Marlins.

In other words, the starters will enjoy some extra rest.

"I like them going on a sixth day, but all of a sudden they're going on seventh and eighth days," Dubee said. "That's quite a layoff. It should help, though."

Hamels' inactivity was not designed, but shoulder inflammation forced him to skip one turn in the rotation. That's all it will be. Hamels threw a light, 24-pitch bullpen session Saturday and said he planned to start Friday against Florida. In between, he will throw another, longer side session.

"It went along fine," Dubee said.

Oswalt threw 40 pitches in his pregame warm-ups Friday, and because he is only two starts removed from a stint on the disabled list, Dubee decided it was best to be cautious. He approached Oswalt about 20 minutes into the delay, and they both agreed on that strategy.

Kendrick, Saturday's scheduled starter, was fine with the sudden change. All he did was toss six innings of two-run baseball on short notice.

"That was as big a test as there will ever be," Dubee said. "When you're a starter, you get into routines. He was prepared to start Saturday."

Dubee didn't accuse the Nationals of any foul play, but was disappointed that Friday's game began as scheduled even with storms obviously nearby. Dubee said the grounds crew kept the Phillies abreast of the forecast. They did not believe the storms would hit Nationals Park.

"It's tough," Dubee said, "because you can't predict the weather."

A day after one of the worst outings of his career, Ryan Madson was unavailable in Manuel's bullpen. Madson threw 72 pitches over a three-day span, the final one a fastball to Ryan Zimmerman that landed as a game-winning grand slam Saturday morning.

Both manager Charlie Manuel and Madson said the reliever's recent workload had nothing to do with the six earned runs that skyrocketed his ERA from 2.06 to 3.25.

"He's ahead of all of those hitters except for Zimmerman," Manuel said. "Hell, he had two strikes on every one of them. [Jayson] Werth hit the ball good. The rest were quail hits and a ground ball in the hole. The balls found places. Those things happen."

Jose Contreras (elbow) was scheduled to throw off a mound for the first time since mid-July, but that session was bumped to Monday. Manuel called it a "setback," but Dubee downplayed the situation.

"We just didn't think he was quite there yet," Dubee said.

Placido Polanco reported progress in his recovery from a sports hernia, assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said. Polanco will be evaluated once the team returns home Monday. He is eligible to be activated that day. Manuel said he did not expect Polanco to require a minor-league rehab assignment. . . . Shane Victorino returned from his two-game suspension. He started in center field and batted second. . . . The Phillies released outfielder Jack Cust and righthander Aaron Heilman from triple-A Lehigh Valley.