A Closer Look at Phillies' Unconventional April Schedule

It's not even April yet and the weather is already warming in Philadelphia. The forecast for first pitch on Monday was 68 degrees and should reach as high as 80 by Wednesday.

It's not quite hittin' season, but between the temperature and the inferiority of the Nationals' pitching staff, the Phillies have a chance to get themselves on track offensively this week.

The Phils' first-month schedule is filled with homestands and road trips lasting at least a week. After their first three games against the Nats, they head out west for three games in Denver and three in San Francisco. It could be much chillier in both cities.

It's early in the year for a West Coast trip, and Colorado and San Francisco are two places where the Phillies have historically encountered difficulty even during good seasons. Both are unique ballparks — Coors Field for the thin air, spacious dimensions and extra hits the stadium creates; AT&T Park for its pitcher-friendliness and extensive foul ground.

Get familiar

The Phillies get a healthy dose of the NL West in the opening month with all six of their games against the Giants, three with the Rockies and three with the Diamondbacks. The series with Arizona begins a nine-game, 11-day homestand from April 9-19, the longest of the Phils' first half. They face the D-backs, Cubs and Braves at home before heading out on the road to face the same Cubs and Braves teams again. Between Denver, Chicago and San Francisco, the Phils will be dealing with their fair share of April wind.

Interestingly, the Phillies will play their entire season series against the Giants and Cubs just from April 6-30. They'll also get half of their meetings with the Braves out of the way during that stretch. They go Giants, D-backs, Cubs, Braves, Cubs, Braves, Giants.

The Wheeler dynamic

At some point during all of this, Zack Wheeler will rejoin the Phillies' rotation. Wheeler is scheduled to make his second rehab start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Friday in Durham, NC, then he will make a third rehab start the following week with Double-A Reading. That might be all he requires.

Wheeler's limit in his first rehab start was 45 pitches, but he needed only 38 to complete his three innings. He'll likely increase to the 55-60 pitch range in his second start and the 75-80 pitch range by the third.

At that point, will Wheeler need any more minor-league seasoning? A potential fourth rehab start would likely be six innings and/or 95 pitches, so the line of thinking might be, why waste those innings in the minor leagues if they could just as easily come in the majors?

When Wheeler does rejoin the Phillies' rotation, they could temporarily shift to a six-man rotation that also includes Cristopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, Jesus Luzardo, Taijuan Walker and rookie Andrew Painter. Doing so, however, could get the starters a bit too much rest. The Phillies are off three straight Thursdays: April 2, April 9 and April 16, and they're off again on April 27.

As a result, they'll have a pitcher go on regular rest only once in their first 23 games, unless someone is skipped.