The 142nd season of Phillies baseball will start one day late.
The Phillies postponed Opening Day more than 24 hours before the scheduled first pitch against the Atlanta Braves. The forecast calls for steady rain all Thursday. The game was rescheduled for Friday at 3:05 p.m. ET.
The league typically pads Opening Day with a scheduled day off, and the Phillies took advantage of that arrangement. It’s a decision that does have pitching ramifications for the Phillies. They had planned to start Zack Wheeler in the first and fifth games of the season — something they could do with the scheduled off day. That would allow Spencer Turnbull, a late addition to the rotation, to throw in one more sim game to increase his pitch count. The plan was to start Turnbull in the sixth game of the season.
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Now, the Phillies will have to do something else for the fifth game, Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds. “We have a backup plan,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said earlier this week. It could involve a bullpen game.
They know this much: Wheeler will be on the mound Friday against Spencer Strider in an anticipated matchup between two divisional rivals. There is no rain in the forecast, but 30 mph wind gusts are possible. It might not be a good day to be a hitter.
The postponement doesn’t affect the Braves’ pitching plans other than to delay Strider’s Opening Day start by 24 hours. The Braves had planned to use their full five-man rotation the first time through, rather than have Strider come back for a Game 5 start on regular rest if the opener had been played as planned on Thursday.
The Braves have Strider lined up to start Friday, followed as planned by Max Fried in Game 2 on Saturday, Chris Sale in the series finale Sunday, Charlie Morton in a series opener at Chicago against the White Sox on Monday, and Reynaldo López in the Braves’ fifth game Tuesday. Strider would make his second start in the road trip finale Wednesday at Chicago.
Tickets and parking for Thursday’s originally scheduled game will be valid for admission on Friday, the Phillies said.
— The Athletic’s David O’Brien contributed to this report.
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(Photo of Citizens Bank Park: Rich Graessle / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)