Phils may use unusual strategy to keep Turnbull in the rotation

ANAHEIM -- The Phillies are considering something unusual to keep Spencer Turnbull’s arm in the rotation.

Turnbull is 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA in six starts this season, which is the ninth-lowest ERA out of 82 qualified pitchers. But now that Taijuan Walker is back from the injured list, the Phillies have six starters for five spots. There has been a tremendous amount of focus on Turnbull’s future because Philadelphia has said it does not want to employ a six-man rotation because of the potential long-term strain on the bullpen. The club also has said it wants to monitor Turnbull’s workload because he has not pitched more than 56 2/3 innings in a season since 2019.

Could piggybacking be the answer?

“Absolutely,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Wednesday morning at Angel Stadium. “It’s TBA, but I think it makes some sense.”

Hypothetically, Turnbull could pitch on the same day as another starter.

Say that starter is left-hander Cristopher Sánchez. Who starts? It depends. Maybe Turnbull starts every five days. Maybe Sánchez does.

Or maybe Turnbull and Sánchez alternate starts based on the opposition.

“Depending on the lineups,” Thomson said.

To make it work, both pitchers would have to pitch that day. It would mean that game’s starter pitches four or five innings, even if he is pitching well.

“If you’re at five [innings] and 50 pitches, you’re coming out,” Thomson said. “Because that other guy has to pitch. You could do it that way.”

Could something like that affect a pitcher’s effectiveness?

“I don’t know,” Thomson said. “If they continue to pitch well, I think it will work out extremely well. If that’s the way we go. Because it gives the bullpen a day.”

If Turnbull and the other starter pitch well, it effectively would create a built-in day of rest for the Phillies’ seven relievers.

Thomson said he hasn’t been around a big league team that has tried something like this on a regular basis, although it happens often in the Minor Leagues.

“But the games don’t mean what they mean here,” Thomson said. “That feel and what happens to those guys, mentally and emotionally, that’s important.”

It sounds like something the Phillies might try. Perhaps the plan is finally announced on Friday.