Paul Hagen: Halladay and Hamels might be enough for Phillies

IT'S HARDLY an original thought that we live in an age of shrunken attention spans. A time when three letters are often used to convey an entire thought and 140 characters is an opus on Twitter.

Which helps explain why Domonic Brown was the sizzle last night, getting a standing ovation from the appreciative home crowd for the singular accomplishment of having his name announced as part of the starting lineup.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. His arrival has been avidly anticipated for most of the past two seasons as he worked his way up the farm system ladder. His numbers have been stellar. He is The Future, and who wouldn't be entranced by the chance to get a glimpse?

Overlooked in all the hyperventilation, though, was the fact that some guy named Roy Halladay was starting for the Phillies. And the big righthander, once again, was the steak. In the Phillies' seventh straight win, 7-1 over the Diamondbacks, he turned in his major league-leading eighth complete game. He has allowed zero or one run in four of his last five starts.

With all due respect to Brown, who has the earmarks of being a phenomenal young talent and had a fabulous debut, the Phillies' hopes of surviving the continuing spate of injuries that has bedeviled the two-time National League champions lie elsewhere.

Halladay and the rest of the rotation will have a much greater impact on whether this team will be invited back to the big dance when all is said and done.

It comes down to pitching. It always comes down to pitching.

That's why, even while the offense was on its gently meandering, seemingly never-ending, search for tomorrow for 2 months earlier this season, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. remained primarily focused on the possibility of adding more and better arms.

That's why, with the clock ticking down to the nonwaiver trading deadline at 4 p.m. Saturday, most of the rumors that are attached to the Phillies involve fortifying the staff. Ted Lilly was the latest name to be spit out of the rumor mill yesterday. A scout was believed to be taking a hard look at Cleveland's Fausto Carmona last night. And Roy Oswalt talks are said to be heating up.

The bottom-line question: Is this rotation, as it's currently constructed, good enough to give the Phils a chance to play deep into October and maybe even the first week of November?

The answer from this modest but neatly furnished ivory tower: Absolutely, positively maybe.

This isn't necessarily the way Amaro & Co. drew it up last winter, but the evolving blueprint is starting to look a lot like the one the Arizona Diamondbacks used to win their world championship in 2001.

That season, the Snakes went 51-18 (.729) in games started by Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson and 41-52 (.441) when anybody else got the ball.

After the horses at the top of the rotation, the most frequently used starters were Brian Anderson (4-9, 5.20), Miguel Batista (11-8, 3.36) and Robert Ellis (6-5, 5.77).

Nine out of 10 hardball historians agree that none of them (or Albie Lopez, Armando Reynoso, Bobby Witt, Nick Bierbrodt, Mike Morgan or Eric Knott, for that matter) gave opposing hitters the night sweats.

Halladay and Cole Hamels won't end up with won-lost records that rival what Schill and the Big Unit had that season. Lack of run support has already seen to that.

But Halladay has been dominant as advertised. If Brown had played Miguel Montero's sinking line drive to right with two outs in the ninth on a hop instead of trying to make a shoestring catch, Doc might have had his fourth shutout of the season. Nobody else has more than two.

And Hamels has been on a roll that has been reminiscent of 2008 when he went on to be named Most Valuable Player of both the NLCS and World Series.

If the Phillies don't make a move, the rest of their rotation until further notice is J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick . . . a trio that should be at least as good as any threesome Arizona put together nine summers ago. Especially considering that Happ was the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up last year and has a chance, at least, to improve as he puts more separation between himself and the forearm strain that landed him on the disabled list. And that Blanton, so consistent in his career, almost has to be better than he's been to this point. Doesn't he?

It's not ideal. It's not the easiest way to make a living. It doesn't provide much margin for error. But it can be done.

If the right deal materializes, for a starter or a reliever, that can be made without adding a salary that will choke the payroll going forward and/or further thin the farm system, Amaro should do a couple of things:

Say a quick prayer of thanks and then make the trade before the other guy changes his mind.

Otherwise, it might just be best not to make any move at all and see how far Halladay and Hamels can take them.

Send e-mail to hagenp@phillynews.com