Phillies Notebook: Happ's fastball not as fast as usual
J.A. Happ's fastball is the backbone of his pitching repertoire; the way he locates it on both corners, the way he places it at the knees, the way he elevates it out of the zone.
J.A. Happ's fastball is the backbone of his pitching repertoire; the way he locates it on both corners, the way he places it at the knees, the way he elevates it out of the zone.
Yesterday, however, it wasn't quite there. Not only was it lacking in location - Happ tied a career high with six walks - but also in its usual velocity and life.
Last week in Houston, Happ's fastball sat between 89 and 91 mph, topping out a few times at 92, which was comparable to the range he displayed during his stellar rookie campaign in 2009.
Yesterday, however, his velocity sat between 87 and 89, topping out at 90.
Is he going through one of the infamous dead-arm periods that sometimes strike pitchers?
"I don't know what he's going through," pitching coach Rich Dubee said.
Is he hurt?
"I don't think so," manager Charlie Manuel said after the Phillies' 7-5 loss to Washington. "I'm sure that when he goes in there and ices down, I'm sure they'll be talking to him about it. But yeah, [his velocity] was down."
Is it a concern?
"I'm not going to make anything big of it," said Happ, who allowed one unearned run in 5 1/3 innings despite throwing just 52 of his 97 pitches for strikes. "It happens. I felt like that way a little bit in some spring games, where it seemed like it just wasn't quite coming out, but that's when you really have to try to execute. I was just a little inconsistent today."
Happ, who went 12-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 166 innings last season as a 26-year-old rookie, said he isn't hurt.
Dubee said he isn't concerned.
"I don't know what's going on," Dubee said in a brief interview after the game. "Some guys don't pop it every day. Do you see everybody pitch at 100 mph every day if they are a 100-mph fastball guy?"
Happ never has been a flame-thrower, and he walked six batters in two games last season. He overcame his pedestrian stuff to hold the Nationals to just three hits.
So the Phillies will chalk it up to being one of those days.
"I think that's just how he felt today, really," Manuel said. "He wasn't real good today, but he battled and we had a chance to win the game."
Blanton nearing return
Righthander Joe Blanton hopes to make his first rehab start on Tuesday, provided bullpen sessions scheduled for today and Sunday do not result in a setback for his strained right oblique.
Blanton, who started the season on the disabled list after suffering the injury on March 30, has been throwing off flat ground for the last week. Blanton, who was expected to miss between 3 and 6 weeks, said yesterday he was not aware of a target date for his return.
Utley binging
Chase Utley's home run in the first inning was his fifth of the season and fourth in the last three games. But power binges are nothing new for the star second baseman. Utley's career has featured four previous occasions in which he has homered in at least three straight games, including two separate five-game streaks in 2008.
Fast starts also aren't new. Last year, Utley finished April hitting .342 with a .461 on-base percentage and seven home runs. In 2008, he hit .360/.430 with 11 home runs. Utley's .622 career slugging percentage and 1.022 OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) in April lead all other months, as do his 35 home runs.
Utley struck out in three of his final four at-bats yesterday, including the bottom of the ninth when he represented the tying run, but is hitting .343 with five home runs, tied with Albert Pujols for the NL lead.
Return of Werth
Given Jayson Werth's history against Scott Olsen, the Phillies' rightfielder shouldn't have been surprised by the caution the lefty starter showed him in three plate appearances yesterday.
Half of the 22 pitches Werth saw were off-speed, and his last two plate appearances ended in walks. Werth, who returned to the lineup for the first time since a minor oblique strain caused him to leave Monday's 7-4 victory, entered the game 10-for-19 with three home runs and seven RBI in his career off Olsen. He narrowly missed his fourth career homer on a long foul ball during a 10-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk in the fourth inning.
Phillers
The announced attendance for yesterday's game was 44,157, marking the 45th consecutive regular-season sellout at Citizens Bank Park . . . After his 2-for-5 performance, Placido Polanco leads the majors with eight multihit games.