ATLANTA — The Phillies’ hopes of catching the Braves in the divisional race already were on life support after Friday night’s 6-5 extra-innings loss to Atlanta.
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But they were dealt another serious blow when Jesús Luzardo was scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday because of shoulder stiffness. The Phillies instead are going with a bullpen game using an opener to be announced Saturday.
The issue cropped up after the lefty’s last outing, a two-hit, 109-pitch shutout against the Braves on Sept. 7. At this point, interim manager Don Mattingly said Luzardo will not require a stint on the injured list, just additional rest.
“If it lingers, it obviously would be a big blow, and I would be more concerned,” Mattingly said. “To this point, I don’t feel that same way.”
Luzardo was not in the clubhouse postgame Friday when reporters entered.
Mattingly said that the biggest issue is Luzardo is having trouble “getting loose.” He threw a touch-and-feel bullpen session on Friday, and while he thought he could pitch, the Phillies want to be cautious with him.
“As we worked through it the last couple of days, we thought he’s going to be able to make the start. Still not quite there,” Mattingly said. “We feel like it’s safer to be careful with him and don’t want this to linger. So it’s one of the things we want to try to take care of and just go from there.”
The initial plan is to have Luzardo get a couple extra days’ rest and start at some point next week. Mattingly pointed to the Braves and how they rested Chris Sale following his complete game as a comparison. After Sale, 37, threw nine innings against the Dodgers on Aug. 27, he did not appear in another game until a week later on Sept. 4 when he faced the Phillies.
The club will be stretched thin for its bullpen game on Saturday after using five relievers in an 11-inning loss to Atlanta on Friday. Orion Kererking also was moving around the clubhouse postgame in a walking boot because turf toe that he has been managing.
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Mattingly said that Kerkering still can throw, and he actually was available on Friday, but he decided to go with right-hander Chase Shugart for the 10th instead. Kerkering hasn’t appeared in a game since Sept. 4.
“He’s actually been throwing. We feel like he can pitch,” Mattingly said of Kerkering. “It’s just like it’s just one of those things.”
But beyond Saturday’s game, the health of Luzardo, who has been an anchor for the Phillies rotation with an 1.85 ERA in his last 10 starts, is paramount.
“Big bummer for us. We obviously need him, but we want to be healthy and we need him for the stretch,” Bryce Harper said. “But we got to get in and got to play good right now for that to happen.”
The Phillies and Braves are set to square off again this weekend in Atlanta, so it’s the perfect time to check in with Jeff Francoeur, who played for both teams and calls Braves games on TV and radio. Francoeur joined Phillies Extra to help break down the race for NL East supremacy. Watch here.
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