Well-timed rest for All-Stars Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suárez a wise move for Phillies’ run to playoffs

ARLINGTON, Texas — When six players from one team show up to the All-Star Game, they take over an entire corner of the clubhouse.

Behold, then, Phillies Row.

Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, Jeff Hoffman, Cristopher Sánchez, and around the bend, Matt Strahm stood out in lockering side by side for two days this week. They occupied an entire wall of the National League clubhouse at Globe Life Field, with enough Phillies equipment bags spread out that it seemed like a regular-season road trip.

It was even more noticeable, though, who didn’t make it to baseball’s midseason showcase.

» READ MORE: ‘The Showman’ Bryce Harper has an All-Star Game stage. What’s his next surprise act?

Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suárez weren’t All-Star snubs. In fact, they were voted onto the NL roster through the player balloting, and their elections were warranted. Wheeler is tied for third in the league with a 2.70 ERA; Suárez is right behind at 2.76.

But Wheeler, ineligible to pitch in the All-Star Game anyway because he was lined up to start the last game before the break, is dealing with a sore lower back. Suárez, who allowed as many earned runs in his last three starts (15) as he did in his previous 14, complained of lower back spasms last week.

Team officials aren’t overly concerned about either situation, but it made no sense to take any chances. Not given how important Wheeler and Suárez are to the only goal that really matters to the World Series-or-bust Phillies. Or how many innings they have worked already this season.

So, rather than boarding a plane to Texas, the starters took a four-day vacation that will likely wind up as a 10-day break between starts for Suárez and two weeks for Wheeler.

Wise move. No pitcher ever went on the injured list with All-Star FOMO.

”They definitely need it,” Harper said. “Being able to have them just get that full rest and that full escape from the game, I think that’s big.”

Said Turner: “Having the label and being able to say you’re an All-Star is probably most important. They got recognized for that. Playing the game is also special. But it’s a long season for those guys. They know it. Don’t want to do anything stupid.”

» READ MORE: Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman prove they don’t need designated reliever roles to make the All-Star game

Certainly not if you have the best record (62-34), the largest division lead (8½ games), and the most complete roster in baseball. Every decision the Phillies make, everything that they do in the next 2½ months will be in service of playing through October and into the first week of November.

And nothing is more critical than keeping the starting rotation healthy.

Check in with the Dodgers about that. Never mind that they won 100 games and the NL West last season. They ran out of healthy starters by the playoffs and gave up 19 runs to the 84-win Diamondbacks in a three-game divisional series sweep.

It’s happening again, too. The Dodgers have the best rotation in baseball — on the injured list, that is, with Tyler Glasnow (back), Yoshinobu Yamamoto (shoulder), Walker Buehler (hip), and Clayton Kershaw (shoulder). Dustin May is out for the season after throat surgery; Shohei Ohtani has only one of his superpowers until next season.

Is it any wonder the Dodgers are searching for a starter (or two) before the July 30 trade deadline?

And they aren’t alone. The Braves lost ace Spencer Strider to Tommy John elbow surgery and have to hope that 35-year-old Chris Sale and 40-year-old Charlie Morton don’t break down. The Diamondbacks are awaiting the returns of Jordan Montgomery (knee), Merrill Kelly (shoulder), and Eduardo Rodríguez. The Padres can’t be certain that they can count on Joe Musgrove’s balky elbow.

You get the idea.

Meanwhile, the Phillies are bucking two modern pitching trends. Their starters are pitching deep into games, completing at least seven innings 26 times, seven more than any other team. And they are staying healthy. Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Suárez, and Sánchez have avoided the injured list.

» READ MORE: Alec Bohm’s place with the Phillies was in question two years ago. Now he’s starting in the All-Star Game.

It’s a nifty trick and the biggest reason for the Phillies’ first-half success. Because Nola, Wheeler, and Suárez are second, third, and seventh in innings pitched among NL starters. Suárez is already up to 114 innings after throwing 125 last year and 155⅓ in 2022. Sánchez has worked 103⅓ innings, eclipsing his career high in a major-league season (99⅓ last year).

See why a break was such a good idea?

Wheeler never seemed terribly upset about missing the All-Star Game. He experienced the festivities in 2021 and struck out the only batter he faced (Matt Olson). Suárez was a first-time All-Star and said last week that he intended to pitch.

“He wanted to be here, for sure,” Sánchez, who threw only two pitches and recorded two outs in the sixth inning of the All-Star Game, said through a team interpreter. “But he was responsible enough to make the decision to not come here and just take these days of rest.”

Said Harper: “Ranger looked a little tired at the end. I think everybody knows that. Wheels obviously came out of his last outing with the back. But those two guys are going to be horses for us down the road. We need that down the line — September, October. Starting pitching wins championships. Being able to have the starters that we do, it helps us that much more to get them some rest.”

The Phillies built in additional rest for their starters by going to a six-man rotation for a stretch in each of the last two summers. They intend to do so again, manager Rob Thomson said last weekend.

» READ MORE: From teen prospect in rural Venezuela to All-Star: How Ranger Suárez became ‘that guy’ with the Phillies

And with an 86.9% chance of winning the NL East, based on Fangraphs’ projections, they have the cushion to tap into Tyler Phillips, Kolby Allard, and the rest of their scant triple-A rotation depth in August and early September.

Whatever it takes to keep the starters as healthy as possible.

“It’s tricky because you don’t want to baby guys and they get injured, and you don’t want to overwork them and they get injured,” Turner said. “But our training staff’s really good, one of the best in baseball, if not the best. They’re really passionate about it, and they know our guys very well. The people we have, I think we’ll figure it out and we’ll be good.”