NL East: On the edge of a knife

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies got a jump scare when emerging ace Cristopher Sánchez left his start against the Mets last week with discomfort in his left forearm. There may be no more ominous words to describe the state of a pitcher’s arm—perhaps only “amputated” would be worse. The good news for all involved is the team declined to order an MRI or place him on the IL, feeling confident enough that whatever ails Sánchez will resolve itself in short order. Let’s use this incident to review some options for the PHI rotation.

Ranger Suárez dominated in his most recent rehab start for AAA-Lehigh Valley (4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) and is nearing a return from the IL. The team would like to see him stretch out to 90 pitches...

Almost!

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