Phillies Notebook: Phillies' Happ might wind up in minors after rehab

As J.A. Happ stood in a hallway beneath Coca Cola Park Sunday night, an Iron Pigs staffer approached him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Hopefully we've seen the last of you at Triple A," the well-wisher said as postgame fireworks began to pop outside.

Happ, who allowed four runs, six hits and four walks with one strikeout in 5 1/3 innings for Lehigh Valley against Pawtucket, doesn't have much of a say in the matter. Yesterday, the Phillies didn't rule out the possibility of activating him from the disabled list and optioning him down to the minor leagues rather than inserting him back into the big-league rotation.

In fact, manager Charlie Manuel's summation of the reports he has received on Happ was underwhelming.

"From the sound of what they are telling me, it sounds more like he might still need some work," Manuel said.

The Phillies have to make a move of some kind this week. According to major league rules, the rehab assignment that he began in early June will expire tomorrow. The Phillies could file for an extension, but to do so, they would have to claim that Happ's strained left forearm requires more time to rehabilitate. That does not appear to be the case. Happ has said since his fifth rehab start that he feels healthy enough to pitch at the big-league level, and the Phillies have not publicly disagreed with that sentiment.

But Happ, sidelined since April 16 with what has been diagnosed as a forearm strain, has minor league options remaining. That means the team has the flexibility to send him to Lehigh Valley and keep him pitching every fifth day.

Pitching coach Rich Dubee said Happ's arm speed and velocity were better on Sunday than they had been in his previous five outings - the radar gun in Allentown had him sitting between 88-91 mph, touching 92 on occasion.

Happ retired the first nine batters he faced, showing good life on his fastball and good command of the inside part of the plate. But he threw 30 pitches in the fourth inning, and left the game in the sixth having thrown 103.

Asked about the possibility of being optioned to the minors, Happ replied, "We'll just see what happens. I don't think that's necessary."

Said Dubee: "His opinion and other people's opinion might differ. We'll come to that conclusion. Heck, every player thinks they're ready. They all think they're ready to pick up where they left off. Sometimes, it's not that easy.''

The only good news about the Phillies' catching situation is that third-stringer Dane Sardinha has played relatively well since he was called up from Lehigh Valley, hitting .250 with three home runs, two doubles and eight RBI in 11 games.

But Sardinha, a 31-year-old Hawaiian signed as a minor league free agent in the offseason, has had little rest with starter Carlos Ruiz on the disabled list and backup Brian Schneider out of commission since Thursday with a sprained thumb.

Ruiz, who was hit on the head with a bat on June 18, is scheduled to see a concussion specialist today, his second such visit in the last week. The Phillies want Ruiz to compete in some rehab games before he is activated, although they have not announced a timetable. Schneider, who sprained his thumb early in a loss to the Pirates on Thursday, took batting practice yesterday and could catch a bullpen session today.

"Every day, the swelling goes down," said Schneider, who has been available to play in case of an injury to Sardinha.

Charlie Manuel said he hoped to have both Ruiz and Schneider back before the All-Star break, which begins next Monday.

"Actually, I don't know for sure," he said. "But I'm hoping that we do. Because this kid that we've got now, the weather's kind of getting hot, and he's been catching quite a bit."

Charlie Manuel has received a healthy amount of criticism from the national media for selecting Braves utility man Omar Infante to the All-Star team, but Manuel said yesterday he was told by Major League Baseball to select a utility man.

Infante entered last night hitting .309, but he had just nine extra-base hits and did not even have enough at-bats to qualify as a league leader.

Another one of Manuel's more controversial moves involved his selection of Ryan Howard, who entered last night hitting .293 with 15 home runs, 59 RBI and an .850 on-base percentage plus slugging, over Red first baseman Joey Votto, hitting .312 with 19 home runs, 57 RBI and a .984 OPS.

Howard, an All-Star for the third time, will join fellow Phillie Roy Halladay (seventh appearance) in Anaheim, Calif., next week. Chase Utley, voted by the fans to start at second base, will not play because of thumb surgery.