How the Phillies plan to stay ready during the bye week

How Phillies plan to stay ready during bye week originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

WASHINGTON – The Phillies have their plan for next week’s bye during the wild-card round of the playoffs.

Monday, the day after Game 162, is a day off.

There will be a mandatory team training session on Tuesday.

There will be an intrasquad game at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.

There will be an optional team training session on Thursday.

There will be a mandatory team practice on Friday at the same time as the NLDS opener on Saturday.

The Phillies will make Wednesday’s intrasquad game as close to a real game as possible.

“We’ll have a referee, a full scoreboard, walk-up music, the whole deal,” manager Rob Thomson said before the first game of the Phillies’ final regular-season series against the Nationals. “I’m not sure how many innings we’ll have yet, but I would think six, seven, eight innings.”

Spencer Turnbull is likely to play in the intrasquad game as long as he gets through live batting practice on Friday. Turnbull has been training in Allentown, where the Phillies have a group of players ready with Turnbull: catchers Rafael Marchan and Aramis Garcia, right-handed pitchers Max Lazar and Nick Nelson, and position players Cal Stevenson and Buddy Kennedy.

This group will meet the team again in Philadelphia after the weekend.

The Phillies didn’t have an off week in the last two weeks of October, so this will be a very different start to the postseason. They examined the preparatory work of teams that had success after the bye, particularly the Houston Astros.

“Very similar to what we’re going to do, and that’s probably what I would normally do,” Thomson said. “But they seem to have had the most success. I think Atlanta did the same thing last year. You never know, but I think we’re doing the right thing.”

At Games 160-162, the Phillies are still playing for home field advantage. They need to finish a game better than the Dodgers this weekend. If the Phillies sweep, the Dodgers can’t be better than 2-1. If the Phillies are 2-1, the Dodgers will have to lose their series at Coors Field.

Thomson has mentioned that he would like to recall Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola in their final starts on Saturday and Sunday, but that will depend on the situation, pitch count and flow of the game. They are both on the verge of milestones and Thomson wants them to achieve them.

“These guys have goals too,” he said. “Wheeler is 6⅓ away after 200 innings, Nola is 5⅓. This is huge for them. I help them as much as I can to achieve it.

“Marsh has to get two (stolen bases) for 20. Turner, it’s one for 20-20. I’m looking at what needs to happen to keep (Kyle) Schwarber at .250? What has to happen to keep (Nick)? Castellanos over .250? Little numbers like these could mean something to them.