Emergency change Rob Thomson can make to save the Phillies’ season

The Philadelphia Phillies are backed into a corner right now. Down 2-1 and facing elimination to their rival New York Mets, the season literally hangs in the balance on Wednesday. When your back is up against the wall and time is running out, you must take drastic measures that you wouldn't take during the regular season. For Game 4 of the NLDS, that means the team should start Zack Wheeler — even on three days rest — instead of Ranger Suarez.

In May, when Ranger Suarez was 9-0 with a 1.36 ERA, throwing him in a playoff elimination game wouldn't have required a second thought. He was the hottest pitcher in baseball, mowing teams down from the back of the Phillies rotation. But lower back issues caused a month-plus stint on the IL threw a wrench into the starting pitcher's season, and he hasn't been the same pitcher since returning from injury, never going longer than 5.1 innings and giving up 3+ runs in four of seven starts since returning to the Phillies lineup.

Rob Thomson has to make a tough call for Phillies in Game 4

It's not really Suarez's fault that he shouldn't pitch Game 4; injuries suck. But with the season on the line, you have to trust your hottest arm — even on three days rest. That's Zack Wheeler, who hasn't had a bad outing since July (12 straight quality starts) and who shut out the Mets over seven innings on Saturday. According to The Athletic, it would take 'an extreme situation' for Philly to use Wheeler in Game 4. It shouldn't. Even after 111 pitches on Saturday, Wheeler gives the Phillies the best chance to slow down the Mets offense and keep the workload of the struggling bullpen to a minimum.

You never want to put your best players at risk of injury, so Philly shouldn't ask Wheeler to throw 100+ pitches again. But being confident that you can at least get a few lockdown innings from your pitcher is imperative in a game of this magnitude.

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The starting pitcher won't matter if Philadelphia can't score runs

Granted, the debate over who should start for the Phillies rings hollow if the offense continues protesting against scoring runs and getting guys on base. The Phillies offense looks bad on TV (very bad) and somehow the numbers are even worse.

There's no energy or ugency from the offense right now, and if the bats take over half the game to wake up again on Wednesday, the Phillies might be done for regardless of who's on the bump.