Spencer Turnbull could be ready for the postseason. How should the Phillies use him?
The Phillies will play an intrasquad game on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park. It will be closed to fans and media, so all we’ll get is secondhand accounts.
For most Phillies, it’s just a tune up as the team waits to begin postseason play on Saturday. It will mean more to the few who are battling for one of the last spots on the roster.
Spencer Turnbull will take the mound at Citizens Bank Park for the first time since June 21. One of the many unsung heroes in the first half of the season, Turnbull has been out since June 26 with a right lat strain. A setback in August pushed back his timeline, but he believes he’s ready to return to the Phillies just in time for the postseason.
He has spent most of the last three months rehabbing in Clearwater, Fla. He threw 52 pitches in a live BP session in Allentown on Sept. 27.
“We kind of mapped out the days that I had left,” Turnbull said in the Phillies clubhouse on Tuesday. “At that point, it was like, alright, we’re not trying to get back for the regular season. Just make sure you’re fully ready for the postseason.”
He will throw two or three innings in Wednesday’s simulated game. He is not stretched out to six or seven innings like a typical starter, but he can give the Phillies three — maybe four innings at a time.
“Hopefully give myself a chance to get on the roster,” Turnbull said.
If Turnbull, who pitched to a 2.65 ERA in 17 games with the Phillies, is healthy and ready to go, the question then becomes what is the best way for the Phillies to use him. Even if the Phillies like what they see on Wednesday, he is definitely not a lock to be on the Division Series roster.
The 12th and likely final roster spot for a pitcher will go to someone who can throw two or three innings out of the bullpen. The assumption here is that Taijuan Walker has pitched himself out of consideration. Kolby Allard and Max Lazard, who are with the Phillies as part of the taxi squad and will also throw in the simulated game, are two names to watch out for. Tyler Gilbert is also with the Phillies, but he is ineligible to make the roster after being optioned on the last day of the season.
Turnbull could be the bulk guy who eats a few innings if the Phillies are down and prefer not to burn through the rest of the bullpen. Or Turnbull could piggyback Ranger Suárez in Game 4. Maybe the Phillies opt to keep him off the roster entirely and have him throw on a more predictable schedule to have him ready to go in the event that one of the four starters misses a game due to injury.
If Turnbull does pitch in the postseason, it will likely be out of the bullpen. Transitioning from starting to relieving after the first month of the season was tough for the regimented Turnbull. He was used mostly in lower leverage situations. At one point, he allowed at least one earned run in five out of six outings. He finished off his time in the bullpen with two multi-inning scoreless outings and made one last start in Detroit before landing on the injured list.
But if the Phillies believe there’s a chance they could get something close to the pitcher who went 5-1 with a 1.67 ERA in his first six starts, he should be on the playoff roster.
“I missed out on a lot of stuff, but if I don’t miss out on the postseason, it doesn’t matter,” Turnbull said.
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