World Series: What will Phillies get out of Zack Wheeler in Game 6?

PHILADELPHIA — As if the Astros don’t already have enough going their way as they try to close out the World Series — heading home to Houston, boasting a bullpen that almost never fails, facing a Phillies lineup that suddenly has gone cold — there also is this: They might have an advantage in the starting pitcher matchup, too.

They’ll send lefthander Framber Valdez, their ace-caliber No. 2 starter with a 1.42 ERA this postseason, to the mound Saturday night for Game 6, already up 3-2 in the series and one win away from a championship.

The Phillies will use righthander Zack Wheeler, from whom they aren’t quite sure what they’ll get after his recent arm fatigue.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to panic,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “We just got to keep doing what we’re doing and concentrate on doing the little things. I always tell ’em, focus on the little things and big things will happen.”

Valdez said: “I’m just going to try to continue doing what I’ve been doing all season. Just try and attack hitters early, try to breathe, try to stay calm, try to meditate. It’s something that’s really exciting. It’s something that really adds a lot to your career and I’m really excited for this opportunity.”

Working in the Phillies’ favor, they think: This will be the third time in a month that they face Valdez.

He owned them for five scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts on Oct. 5, the last day of the regular season, capping a campaign in which he led the American League with 201 1⁄3 innings.

In Game 2 last weekend, Valdez was only slightly less effective, allowing one run and striking out nine in 6 1⁄3 innings.

“The more you see a pitcher, the more you see the shape of his pitches and see it up close and how the fastball sinks or rides, I think you have a better chance,” Thomson said. “We had better at-bats in the World Series start than we did in the regular-season start. So hopefully that continues.”

Wheeler, meanwhile, will pitch for the first time in a week, the Phillies opting to hold him back with the hope that his arm will benefit from extra rest.

He felt fatigued during and after his most recent start — five innings, five runs in Game 2 — and had a noticeable dip in velocity. The Phillies limited him to one bullpen session between starts. That came Thursday. They said it went well.

Wheeler can be effective even if he doesn’t physically feel his best, but he wasn’t last time. As good as he has been all year, he might just be gassed.

“Zack’s a competitor,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “Even in his starts this season, when his velo hasn’t necessarily been as high as it always is, he always competes for us. He’s got the stuff to get the job done. Whether his velo is at 98 or not, as long as he’s got his command and then he’s able to attack the strike zone and work ahead of hitters, I’m not too worried about the velo.”

Wheeler said: “The extra rest always helps.”

Ranger Suarez, who pitched in relief in Game 1 and started Game 3, again is available out of the bullpen for Game 6, according to Thomson. That would leave them with Aaron Nola on short rest and a limited pitch count to start Game 7 if they get there.

Another historical footnote to keep in mind this weekend: Astros manager Dusty Baker is the winningest manager (2,093 wins) without a World Series title in major-league history.

He is trying to be cool about it.

“I’m not going to do anything different,” he said. “If we just go out there and just play baseball, we’ll take care of ourself. It’s not like football where you got to give some rah-rah every Sunday. Because after a while, you run out of rah-rahs to talk about.”

By Tim Healey

timothy.healey@newsday.com@timbhealey

Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.