Starting Saturday night’s Phillies win-or-go-home Game 6 in Houston goes to Zack Wheeler, but Ranger Suarez could find himself in this World Series for a third time if needed.
Suarez showed relief in Game 1 and started Game 3 with a short break. He has pitched 5⅔ scoreless innings in the World Series and has a 1.23 ERA with a 1.02 WHIP in 14⅔ innings this postseason.
Suarez has started playoff games against the Braves, Padres and Astros, ended the NLCS with a save and was used for left-left matchups against Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker last week.
He is lining up to start Game 7 if there is one, but Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Friday he would not hesitate to use Suarez to relieve Wheeler. It seems likely the opportunity would present itself as the Phils have to navigate the Alvarez-Alex Bregman-Tucker section of the lineup multiple times. In a perfect world for the Phillies, Wheeler bats well enough or they lead comfortably enough to save Suarez for Game 7.
“For Game 7, we probably fielded both Ranger and (Aaron) Nola,” Thomson said. “Probably not a full pitch count. So if we needed Ranger in Game 6 I would use him and then we would have to crank it up in Game 7 but Nola would start at that point.”
Uncertainty about this launch for Wheeler. His pace was down in Game 2, even with extra rest, and he put nine men on base over five innings, allowing for five runs. Wheeler has claimed that he is healthy and that the drop in speed was not due to his elbow barking or the line drive that hit him near the knee in the NLCS.
He hosted a bullpen session Thursday and the Phillies were pleased with what they saw.
“Just try to be a stopper and give our team another chance after tomorrow,” Wheeler said. “You have to win tomorrow and I’m proud of that. Hopefully I can go out and give us the best chance.”
Whatever version of Wheeler emerges, the Phillies need more of their offense. They’re 1 in 23 with runners in goal position since the fifth inning of Game 1, and several key hitters collapse at the worst possible time. Rhys Hoskins is 0-for-10 since cutting off Lance McCullers Jr. in the middle of Game 3, while Nick Castellanos is down to .197 with a .262 batting percentage this postseason. There must be some concern on the part of the Phillies that their top two players, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, won’t see many spots to hit at Minute Maid Park.
The Phillies face Framber Valdez in Game 6. The left-hander has smothered the Phils twice in the last month with a sinker-curveball combo that misses at-bats and creates so many groundballs. Valdez scored 10 in five scoreless innings to beat the Phillies on October 5 and followed that up in Game 2 of the World Series with 6⅓ innings of a one-run ball, striking out nine.
Valdez was almost as hard a pick for the Phillies as Cristian Javier was in Game 4 when he pitched the first six innings of the Astros’ combined no-hitter.
Could the two looks the Phils had at Valdez help them in Game 6 as they try to add another day to their playoff run?
“The more times you see a pitcher, the more you see the shape of the pitches and see them up close, see the fastball sink or drive, I think you have a better chance,” Thomson said. “I thought we had better bats at the start of the World Series than we did at the start of the regular season, so I hope that continues.”
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