Philadelphia Phillies: JA In to Help Happ-Less Rotation

The Phillies finally pulled the plug on the Chan Ho Park experiment.

No matter what they may say, the team signed the 15-year veteran last off-season to strengthen the bullpen, not the starting rotation. It was only after Park went public with his desire to pitch in the starting rotation, when things did get a little dicey.

He told reporters he chose to sign with the Phillies because they promised him a chance to earn a spot in the rotation and Park certainly earned his spot after being the Phillies' most consistent pitcher in spring training. His performance left the team with no choice but to give him the nod over J.A Happ and prized prospect Carlos Carrasco.

I’m sure the Phillies would have preferred Happ in the rotation and Park in the bullpen from day one, especially after the team acquired lefty reliever Jack Taschner at the end of spring training

Park was awful in five of his seven starts making his already awful 7.08 ERA a little deceiving—in a positive way. Take out the two semi-decent starts he had against the Mets and Dodgers and his ERA in his five other starts exceeds 10.00, which is beyond Adam Eaton-esque. In his last outing against the Nationals, Park failed to get out of the second inning, giving up five earned runs in just one and a third innings.

Happ will step right into the fire, making his first start on Saturday at the new Yankee Stadium against the, suddenly red hot, Bronx Bombers, on national television no less.

No matter the outcome of that game, I don’t think anyone expects Happ to relinquish his spot in the rotation for the rest of the season, and perhaps many years to come. The young lefty has shown extreme poise in his brief major league career, making his first two starts in the big leagues against the rival New York Mets in the heat of pennant races.

The Phillies obviously made the right choice here, recognizing the need to fix what has been, up to this point, the NL’s worst starting rotation. In addition to the much talked about league-worst ERA for the starters, the rotation also has the lowest number of innings pitched by any starting rotation. Failing to make changes now could easily result in a burned out bullpen during the stretch drive.

With Happ in the rotation, all eyes will now be squarely on Jamie Moyer. The entire front office will be crossing their fingers hoping the rapidly-aging wonder will somehow turn it around, preventing the team from having to make another change in the rotation. A move that would not only be costly, but emotional as well.