Rob Thomson, Cristopher Sánchez, and Brandon Marsh all know how important it was to accomplish a huge season-long goal of securing a spot in the NLDS.
WASHINGTON — The Phillies have their plan in place for next week's bye during the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Monday, the day after Game 162, will be a day off.
Tuesday will be a mandatory team workout.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Wednesday will be an intrasquad game at Citizens Bank Park.
Thursday will be an optional team workout.
Friday will be a mandatory team workout at the same time as Saturday's NLDS opener.
The Phillies will treat Wednesday's intrasquad game like as close to a real game as they can.
Philadelphia Phillies
Find the latest Philadelphia Phillies news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Philadelphia.
"We're gonna have an umpire, full scoreboard, walk-up music, the whole deal," manager Rob Thomson said before the first game of the Phillies' final regular-season series against the Nationals. "How many innings we're gonna have I'm not really sure yet but I would think six, seven, eight innings."
Spencer Turnbull will likely pitch in the intrasquad game as long as he comes out of Friday's live batting practice session OK. Turnbull has been working out in Allentown, where the Phillies have a group of players staying ready in Turnbull, catchers Rafael Marchan and Aramis Garcia, right-hander pitchers Max Lazar and Nick Nelson and position players Cal Stevenson and Buddy Kennedy.
That group will meet the team back in Philadelphia after the weekend.
The Phillies did not have the week off the last two Octobers so this will be a much different entry into the postseason. They've studied the prep work done by teams who have found success after the bye, most specifically the Houston Astros.
"Very similar to what we're gonna be doing and that's probably what I would do normally," Thomson said. "But they seem to have had the most success. I think Atlanta did the same thing last year. You never know, but I think we're doing the right thing."
As far as Games 160-162, the Phillies are still playing for home-field advantage. They must finish one game better than the Dodgers this weekend. If the Phillies sweep, the Dodgers can no better than 2-1. If the Phillies go 2-1, the Dodgers have to lose their series at Coors Field.
Thomson has mentioned wanting to dial back Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola in their final starts Saturday and Sunday, but it will depend on the situation, pitch count and game flow. They're both nearing milestones and Thomson wants to let them achieve them.
"These guys have goals, too," he said. "Wheeler's 6⅓ away from 200 innings, Nola's 5⅓ away. That's huge for them. If it's big for them, it's big for me. It's not as important as keeping them healthy, obviously, but if they have goals then I want to try to help them as much as I can to reach them.
"Marsh has to get two (stolen bases) for 20. Turner, it's one for 20-20. I'm looking at what has to happen to keep (Kyle) Schwarber at .250? What has to happen to keep (Nick) Castellanos over .250? Little numbers like that that might mean something to them."
