One Thing Has Given Rob Thomson Confidence To Increase Workload of Phillies Starters

The good feelings about the Philadelphia Phillies have returned.

That's what happens when a team gets red-hot and dominates opponents in the manner that this group should based on how much talent is on their roster.

Entering Tuesday, the Phillies are tied for the best record in baseball. They have come back from a multi-game deficit in the NL East standings to sit with a 1.5-game lead over the New York Mets the day after Memorial Day.

But, there is one thing making some people uneasy; the starting pitchers are being pushed hard.

Jesus Luzardo just tied his season-high for pitches thrown in a single outing (105) for the third time this year. He's gone above the 100-pitch mark four out of his five starts in the month of May and four times in a row. Only once in 11 starts has he thrown fewer than 90 pitches.

For someone coming off the season-ending back surgery that he had last year, it's surprising to see that type of output.

Then there's Zack Wheeler, the superstar ace of this staff who has been nothing short of a workhorse when it comes to innings he throws.

Similarly to his counterpart, Wheeler has been racking up the frames and pitch count as of late, throwing a season-high 108 times in his last outing against the Athletics on May 23, which was the fifth time he's eclipsed the century mark already.

And finally there's Ranger Suarez, who began the year on the injured list and threw 98 pitches in his third start of the campaign, reaching 99 in his latest outing.

So what is going on?

Is Rob Thomson being negligent when it comes to his starting pitchers?

While the pitch counts are high and that's a lot of innings being put on the arms of three important players this early in the season, there's a reason why he feels like he can do that at this point in time.

"But Thomson also feels comfortable leaning on the starters because of the work of the medical department. Two weeks ago, the Phillies quietly announced a title bump for head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit, who leads a staff that has kept pitchers, in particular, remarkably healthy over the last few years amid a spike in pitching injuries across the sport," wrote Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscription required).

It should also be pointed out that Thomson has always ridden his starters hard.

He has balanced understanding when he believes it's time to bring in a reliever based on velocity drops in a game, a diminishing of accuracy and becoming tired, while also letting his guys pitch when they are rolling.

Right now, the starting rotation is rolling.

That also helps out the diminished bullpen, another contributing factor in this entire situation.

At some point, Thomson and the Phillies will have to reduce the number of pitches the starters are throwing, and that could very well come during the dog days of summer before things are ramped back up before the start of the playoffs.

But for that to happen in a comfortable manner, the relief staff has to be figured out.

Until this occurs, then Thomson likely will continue trusting the medical staff and his starters to get through long outings without picking up injuries.

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