Sam Donnellon | He's not Eaton up hitters or innings

HE HAS FLOWN under the radar. Somehow, in a town where passions run so deep they have developed an inordinate disdain for a backup catcher and a third-base coach, Adam Eaton has managed to underachieve with little detection.

The civic angst has been about a beefless bullpen and a would-be ace who arrived already damaged. There's also been a lot of buildup to an event as inevitable in this town as a lusty boo, the 10,000th loss of a franchise that goes back 125 years, a franchise that has concocted such bad baseball that the mediocrity of this current team, amid its troubles, can be viewed as a Herculean achievement.

Lost in all this static has been the pedestrian performance of the Phillies' former No. 1 pick, who is in the first of a 3-year deal that pays him $24.5 million. After yet another outing of six innings or less last night, Eaton's earned run average sits at 5.98, his 8-6 won-loss record a reflection of his team's resiliency, not his. No, the best thing that can be said about his 3 months in a Phillies uniform is that occasionally his pitching suggests he could be better, and that he has avoided a visit to the disabled list.

While the latter is appreciated in this season of lost arms - especially given Eaton's past - the former has been cause to question just how much homework was done prior to ponying up for Eaton as the first step of what was supposed to be a reconstruction of the pitching staff.

Remember, this is the management team that allowed rebuilt Randy Wolf to test free agency and ultimately sign with the Dodgers for a contract that only guarantees his $8 million salary for this year. Wolf, 9-6, has an ERA that is a run lower than Eaton's, but he is on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left shoulder.

With Wolf's brother Jim working as home plate umpire, Eaton started his 19th game of the season last night, and for the 15th time failed to make it to the seventh inning. En route to a 10-2 win, the Cardinals cranked 10 of their 14 hits off him, including two home runs, a double and a single before he was removed with no outs in the fifth.

His team trailed 6-0.

"Just didn't make quality pitches when I needed to,'' Eaton said.

"His stuff is good,'' manager Charlie Manuel said. "It's his command.''

Eaton was asked if command was the root of his one-touchdown ERA. He seemed puzzled.

"Yes and no,'' he said. "I know April wasn't good to me earned-run-wise. I don't know what my splits were, but I think I've pitched better since then ERA-wise.''

Well . . . yes and no. His May ERA was 3.98, but it ballooned to 5.79 in June, and in three July starts it's over seven. He averages about 5.7 innings per start, and is building notoriety - or should be - for surrendering two-out RBI, gargantuan home runs and big innings.

There is also this nagging feeling that he is not underachieving, that this is who he is. Even a passing look at his career statistics suggests Eaton's season is more typical than not.

In a career that dates back to 2000, he never has won more than 11 games, never recorded an earned run average under four runs per game, never eaten up a bunch of innings. In 13 starts of an injury-plagued 2006 season, he averaged exactly five innings a game. In eight seasons that have included six stints on the disabled list, Eaton has averaged just under six innings per start.

So why all that money? Why 3 years? Well, Eaton had a 4-0 record last September when the Rangers were hopelessly out of playoff contention and won seven games over the final 2 months.

That's the best I can do.

More perplexing, though, is how his name has evaded the angst, how amid our preoccupation with who's to blame for Freddy Garcia and Brett Myers and Rod Barajas, amid our preoccupation with obtaining more pitching, and soon, there has been so little anger about the team's biggest free-agent expenditure.

It's not all Adam Eaton's fault that the Phillies are in such dire straits. But he's not helping much either. *

Send e-mail to donnels@phillynews.com.

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