Cliff Lee’s dominance in Game 1 of the World Series masked a potentially very big problem for the Phillies.
Namely: What do they have after him?
Manager Charlie Manuel has so little confidence in his rotation aside from Lee that he started 37-year-old midseason addition Pedro Martinez against the Yankees in the Phillies’ 3-1 loss in Game 2 last night and might pitch Lee on three days’ rest in Game 4 on Sunday.
Pitching Lee on short rest, which Manuel refused to rule out yesterday, would be a huge indictment of the Phillies’ rotation because the left-hander has never done it before in his eight-year career.
The reason for the turmoil centers on fellow left-hander Cole Hamels, last year’s World Series MVP who has been nothing short of horrendous in the postseason this fall.
Hamels, the Phillies’ starter Saturday in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park, will take an unsightly 6.75 playoff ERA into that contest.
Asked yesterday what has ailed Hamels all season and particularly in his three playoff starts, Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins had a simple explanation.
“Location,” Rollins said. “He hasn’t been able to place his fastball where he wants it, and that’s made his changeup a lot less effective. When he’s struggling with one pitch, you can almost start canceling out the other, and I think that’s the biggest difference.”
As a result, Hamel’s woes are leaving Manuel with a very big dilemma.
Manuel could go with one of three right-handers with starting experience in Game 4 in Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ or Brett Myers, but all three appear better suited to bullpen roles.
Blanton, the leading candidate if Manuel decides that going with Lee on short rest is too risky, struggled in his only postseason start this year and is carrying a 4.66 ERA in 9 2/3 innings.
Happ, meanwhile, is a leading contender for the NL Rookie of the Year award after going 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA in the regular season. But the World Series is likely to be too big of a stage for Manuel to risk starting Happ, especially in light of his 7.36 ERA in the postseason and recent health woes.
No wonder Manuel sidestepped the question of going back to Lee in Game 4 yet again yesterday before Martinez took the mound.
“We haven’t talked about that, but we will,” Manuel said when asked if he had given any more consideration to Lee on three days’ rest. “We’ve got time, and it’s something that we’ll talk about. I don’t know exactly where we’re at or what’s going to happen yet.”