The time may be coming soon when Nationals manager Davey Johnson has to sit down and plot out if and how he’ll juggle his rotation for a postseason series.
But not yet.
For now, Johnson is still trying to figure out how to get the best matchups for the regular-season series his team has left as they whittle their magic number to win the NL East down. And up next on that docket is the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Nationals may tweak their rotation for their series against the Phillies that begins on Tuesday. As of now, Jordan Zimmermann will pitch on Monday on regular rest. John Lannan will open the series in Philly on Tuesday and Ross Detwiler will go on Wednesday.
But Johnson may then choose to flip Edwin Jackson and Gio Gonzalez in the rotation, preferring to throw another left-hander against the Phillies and give Jackson another day of rest to set him up for the St. Louis Cardinals, who are more right-handed heavy.
The Phillies hit just .238 against left-handed pitchers, compared to .265 against right-handers.
“That’s being mulled over,” Johnson said. “But it doesn’t need to be announced yet.
“Right now I match-up for the teams we’re playing. I’m matching up to get what I think is the best match-up and to give us a little more rest.”
