Amaro: Happ's not going out of anywhere
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Amaro: Happ's not going out of anywhere
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said today that lefthander J.A. Happ will remain in the Phillies rotation for the rest of the season, and raised the possibility of a six-man rotation that would utlilize both Pedro Martinez and Jamie Moyer as starters.
"Happ's not going out of anywhere," Amaro said, providing the first definitive answer about the young lefty's future after a week of speculation surrounding a possible return to the bullpen.
The Phillies general manager lauded Happ for maintaining his focus throughout a trying month that saw his name bandied about in trade rumors. For the previous week, the club had not ruled out sending Happ back to the bullpen in order to create a rotation spot for Martinez, who drew rave reviews in what was likely his last rehab outing Wednesday night. Martinez and Happ pitched on the same night, which would have made for a seamless transition. Plus, Happ started the season in the bullpen, while veteran Jamie Moyer is not suited for such a role.
But Amaro indicated that Happ is simply too valuable as a starter to consider moving him to the bullpen, especially after a complete game performance against the Rockies Wednesday night in which he allowed four hits and no runs and struck out a career-high 11.
Amaro called it "maybe one fo the best games we've pitched this year."
So where does that leave the decision-making process? Although Amaro said no decisions are final, Martinez is likely to join the Phillies' active roster sometime this weekend. The GM said that Martinez "threw very well" in striking out 11 in six innings at Double-A Reading.
"I think he can get major league hitters out with his stuff," Amaro said. "I know it was a minor league club, but when you have 11 strikeouts and no walks, that's good in Little League."
Amaro said that Martinez threw harder in his final inning than he did in his first. His fastball sat in the 86-to-90 range, topping out at 92.
But Martinez's induction into the rotation does not necessarily mean that Jamie Moyer is out of a job. Moyer will make his next start, Sunday, against the Marlins. At that point, Amaro said the Phillies could experiment with a six-man rotation, pitching certain guys on normal rest -- think Joe Blanton and Cliff Lee, and maybe Cole Hamels -- and others on five days. Happ has thrown 115 innings and his coming off a 127-pitch effort. The Phillies certainly could make an argument that he deserves another day off in addition to Monday's off day. That would open up a hole for Martinez to start on Tuesday in Chicago.
"We still haven't made a decision," Amaro said. "It's not out of the possibility to go with a six-man rotation."
In other news, Amaro said Chad Durbin pitched well in his rehab outing Wednesday night. The righthander will make another appearance Friday, then will return to Philadelphia. At that point, the team will decide whether he is ready to join the active roster, or if he needs another rehab start. Regardless, barring set-backs, he should be back with the club within the next week.
Dull is PHILLY 10's 'legitimate' son.— mick314- Moyer pitching in a six man rotation means one less day of a better pitcher going out there. He's an accident waiting to happen.— Bob1
- Seems to me that a six-man rotation is sensible going down the stretch, although Moyer should be restricted to young, inexperienced teams, as he gets spanked by quality hitting clubs. As for Pedro, give him two games, and if he can give them six to seven innings, with 3 or fewer runs, then fine, give him further starts; otherwise, cut him loose or put him in the pen for middle relief. Alternatively, the Yankees need middle relievers, as they would like to return Hughes to the rotation; perhaps a trade can be worked out, sending Pedro, who would love to pitch for the Yankees, for a utility infielder, who would thus allow us to send Bruntlett into the coaching ranks somewhere.— chuckw
- appropriate name, dull. is that mister dull? what did bako do today to insure lee won?— atimelost
- Dull -- What where you saying about Bako. Dull -- that reminds me of a character in "Clockwork Orange" - Dim.— erdrick
Comment removed.- Let's put on the table the decision nobody wants to make. There's less and less room on this team for Jamie Moyer. If Pedro is healthy, does anybody really doubt that he would be a more effective starter than Moyer? Come the postseason, if the Phillies go with a four-man rotation, is Moyer even on the playoff roster? Pedro can at least go to the bullpen, but Moyer? Moyer pitches to contact, and often needs more than an inning to get settled. He's as likely to give up three runs as pitch a 1-2-3 inning. And you would NEVER bring Moyer into a game with men on base. I know that Moyer is under contract for another year, and he's beloved by the city and his teammates. Moyer's even been generally effective for the last couple of months. But if Lee, Hamels and Blanton are set as the top three starters, and if Happ has solidified his position in the rotation, then there is only room for one more starter for the remainder of the regular season. Nobody in the division is going to seriously challenge the Phillies, so the last third of the season is an extended audition to make the postseason roster. It goes without saying that the Phillies are going to field the team that gives them the best chance to win the World Series. As of today, I don't believe that team would include Moyer, but I'm glad I don't have to make that decision.— PhillyGuyinNYC
- Dull, others got to you before I could, so I am not going to say what I really want, palmyra21 said it best and vetlink followed him up quite well. So, I guess I am going to have to defend bako... Bako has won a game with a walk-off hit this year as a backup, hit a home run today that put the Phils ahead for good and has done quite well at catching easily one of the best pitchers in the majors (Lee). Bako is not doing too badly I would say. But alas, your comments are very atypical - 610 banter. You really need to stop listening to Angelo, he's not very bright and will rot your brain with negativity.— MindsEye3
- Comment removed.
- how many pitchers are we carrying - 12? i say have a 12 man rotation. do it alphabetically. (somebody will have to work it out for charlie.) every starter has to go 8, with lidge pitching the 9th of every game. when lidge starts, he goes the distance. that way, every 12th game lidge cannot have a bs.— kiwi
Making Moyer and Martinez spot starters is the smartest move at this point, unless Pedro overwhelms the opposition.— Fishpro- it's a no brainer— djmarco
- They should let Moyer start, give him four innings, and then use Pedro to back him up until Madson/Lidge (if needed).— dog44
- Dull...sharp as a bowling ball aren't you!— WPhillyguy
- Now, what do they do about Myers?— greenflyer
