Bailey Falter will stay in Phillies rotation even after Zack Wheeler returns

ATLANTA — Bailey Falter has mentioned time and again how consistency has helped him succeed in his most recent stint in the big leagues. The left-hander has been recalled from triple A to the Phillies seven times this season, and a few of those times, his stay lasted only a game or two. But when Zack Wheeler was placed on the injured list, Falter got the opportunity to show his manager what he was capable of, and he made the most of it.

Before Sunday’s 5-2 loss to the Braves, the Phillies had gone 5-0 in the five starts Falter had made since Aug. 20. Four of those efforts were quality starts (six or more innings, three or fewer earned runs). He has allowed only nine earned runs over his last six starts, counting Sunday’s. And before the game, the Phillies decided it’s time to give the southpaw more of an extended look.

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Interim manager Rob Thomson announced that even after Wheeler returns from the injured list on Wednesday, Falter will stay in the rotation. Because Wheeler will be on a pitch count in his first few starts — a pitch count that Thomson is not ready to divulge — Noah Syndergaard will enter the game behind him. All of the other Phillies starters will keep their turn in the rotation.

“[Falter] has earned it,” Thomson said on Sunday. “It’s not that Syndergaard hasn’t pitched well. He has, really. But Bailey has done his job and he’s earned it.”

Syndergaard, who was acquired at the trade deadline and has a 4.50 ERA over his last seven games, will piggyback behind Wheeler for his next two appearances, and will start a game in the Phillies’ doubleheader in Washington on Oct. 1. The tentative plan is for the Phillies to increase Wheeler’s pitch count gradually in each start. They will try to add 15 pitches per outing. At least initially, when Wheeler’s pitch count is lower, the Phillies will be looking to Syndergaard to give them some length.

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Falter is 5-3 with a 3.68 ERA in 17 Phillies games this season (4-1, 1.91 in nine games at Lehigh Valley). With Falter keeping his spot in the rotation, the Phillies have 15 pitchers (six starters and nine relievers) on their roster. They will have to demote someone when Wheeler is activated, because MLB allows teams to carry only 14 pitchers during the regular season.

After the regular season, they’ll have to cut another spot, because teams can carry only 13 pitchers into the postseason. Thomson conceded that it will be a tough roster decision, but he said it is “a good problem to have.”