J.A. Happ and the price of success

MIAMI - If J.A. Happ keeps this up, he's going to pitch himself into serious consideration for the rookie of the year award.

It remains to be seen if that will be the National League award or the American League award.

Happ pitched the sizzling Phillies - they come home tonight having won 12 of 13 to surge a season-high 13 games over .500 - to a 5-0 victory over the Florida Marlins yesterday.

His nifty work was noticed in his own clubhouse, where manager Charlie Manuel, slightly agitated over his team's sloppiness (there were missed chances in the batter's box and mistakes on the base paths and in the field), said, "We didn't play real good; Happ pitched real good."

You can bet that Happ's seven shutout innings were also noticed in Toronto, where Blue Jays officials are formulating their list of demands as they get ready to trade ace righthander Roy Halladay, who pitched a pretty good ball game himself yesterday.

It's no secret that the Phillies are one of the teams that want Halladay.

To get him, they'd have to part with some top minor-league talent - and probably a guy who's proving to be a pretty good major-league talent, as well.

That would be Happ, who is 7-0 with a 2.68 ERA this season and 5-0 with a 2.74 ERA as a starter.

Happ is three months shy of his 27th birthday, hardly an old man in the game, but not a young kid, either. He's older than Cole Hamels, who is in his fourth season in the Phillies' rotation. But despite his age, Happ is five years away from free agency and two away from salary-arbitration eligibility. He's the kind of youngish, under-control major-leaguer that teams covet.

That's why the budget-conscious Blue Jays are likely to insist on him in any package if they do business with the Phillies.

Hold up your index finger and thrust it into your eye. Giving up Happ will hurt, just like that. Smart, poised, classy and mature, he has the kind of intangibles that help pitchers last in this game. He's also becoming a better pitcher right before our eyes. He had runners on the corners with one out in the first inning yesterday and pitched out of the tricky situation. Five innings later, he pitched out of a bases-loaded jam with a pop-up and two strikeouts. Sure, it came against the bottom of the Marlins' order (seven, eight and pinch-hitter), but it was still pretty good pitching.

Afterward, Manuel said a lot could be learned in those situations.

By the pitcher.

And by the team.

The pitcher gains invaluable experience.

The team? Well, the Phils this season have learned they have something in Happ. If he stays with the club for the remainder of this season and into the future, it will be good for all parties.

But as much as it might hurt, the Phils can't let Happ hold up a deal for Halladay, who has four top-five finishes in AL Cy Young voting, including a first and a second.

While Happ was beating the Marlins, a team going the wrong way, yesterday, Halladay was icing the first-place Boston Red Sox, holding them to a run in a complete-game win. He is 11-3 with a 2.73 ERA in the toughest division in baseball - and the toughest league.

The Phillies are on a sensational run. It's fun watching them play like this, fun seeing them get the quality starting pitching they have had recently, and fun seeing Jimmy Rollins - he's 21 for 54 (.389) with 10 walks and 13 runs in his last 13 games - finally be the force he should be at the top of the lineup.

But let's not be lulled into thinking this team is ready for October because of this little 12-1 run, which has come against the Mets, Reds, Pirates and Marlins. Oh, it's a great run, every win counts the same, and you can only beat the team in front of you on that particular day. But it wasn't long ago that the Phils stumbled through June with an 11-15 record. American League clubs put the Phils through the wood chipper that month. In all, the Phils were 6-12 in interleague play.

The Phils are good enough to think October. They have a solid lead in the NL East and should hang their heads if they don't win this division. But they've gotten past the point where division titles should make their season. They need to think World Series - again. And management needs to think about how it can help the club beat the AL champion again.

That's where Halladay comes in.

And that's where Happ (and others) might have to go out.

You have to give something to get something, and J.A. Happ has definitely become a something in this 2009 season.

He's a few more good starts away from becoming a serious candidate for rookie of the year.

League to be determined.