Friday night’s Phillies vs. Braves game began in a more than two-hour long rain delay. It led to an unexpected bullpen game for Philadelphia.
Right-hander Mick Abel was the scheduled starter. The likely explanation for the Phillies holding back Abel, as MLB.com’s Paul Casella noted, is that Abel fully warmed up for an anticipated 7:20 p.m. ET first pitch. The delay was called with most of the Phillies in the dugout in full uniform and ready to go.
The trend is for teams to begin games in a delay if there is even a remote chance of storms.