Phillies Notebook: Happ bound for another rehab; Phillies not sure he is ready

PITTSBURGH - At one point during his bullpen session yesterday afternoon, J.A. Happ walked heel-to-toe down the slope of the mound, starting on the pitching rubber and stopping after he had measured the ideal landing point for his right foot at the end of his delivery's stride. The mark noted, he resumed a workout that he hopes will result in his return to the active roster at some point next week.

On Sunday, Happ will once again travel to Triple A Lehigh Valley, where he will attempt to convince the Phillies that he is ready to retire major league hitters on a consistent basis. Thus far, he has not succeeded in that mission, despite making five prior rehab starts and declaring himself fully recovered from the elbow strain that has sidelined him since April 16.

"I'm ready when they are," Happ said yesterday.

The Phillies are still not satisfied with the sharpness of Happ's pitches. The key to his success last season, when he went 10-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 23 starts, was his ability to locate a fastball that seemed to explode out of his hands despite velocity readings that averaged 89-91 mph. The Phillies want to see that explosiveness, and the ability to consistently locate it before they use Happ to replace somebody, presumably righthander Kyle Kendrick, in the rotation.

Happ said he felt like his arm strength was back prior to his start in Lehigh Valley on Monday, when he threw 100 pitches in four inning and allowed 10 of the 22 batters he faced to reach base.

"I guess velocity-wise it wasn't as good as the time before that, but I don't know," he said. "I'm kind of trying to figure out how to get it back as quick as possible right now."

Happ's 30-day allotment for a rehab appearance ends on July 7. For it to continue, the Phillies would have to file for an extension. That could prove difficult, since both Happ and head athletic trainer Scott Sheridan said yesterday that the lefthander feels healthy.

Because Happ has options remaining, the Phillies could choose to activate him and send him down to the minor leagues to continue refining his stuff.

"He's been feeling good," Sheridan said. "He's not reporting any problems to us, but again, it's a matter of him feeling comfortable on the mound with his pitchability as opposed to other things."

Although the Phillies had been hoping that catcher Carlos Ruiz would be ready to return to the field on Sunday, when he is eligible to be activated from the disabled list, those hopes have been postponed.

Ruiz, who suffered a concussion after being hit with a bat against the Twins on June 18, visited renowned specialist Dr. Michael Collins yesterday. Collins is based in Pittsburgh and helped create some of the impact tests that are used to diagnose concussions.

Sheridan said Ruiz has suffered a concussion once before - back in 2004 - and that the Phillies are determined not to put him back into harm's way before he is 100 percent.

"Our goal here is to put him back when he's ready. Worse case scenario is you take a player who has a concussion and they come back too early," Sheridan said. "It's not like he's a position player. You know as well as I do, the first day he goes behind the plate, the first pitch is going to be a foul ball right off the mask. It's going to happen. So we're going to do the best to give him the best chance to come back and be successful."

Righthanded reliever Ryan Madson, working his way back from a broken toe he suffered when he kicked a chair after a blown save in late-April, is scheduled to throw about 30 pitches tonight for Double A Reading in what will be his third rehab appearance. On Tuesday, Madson pitched an inning for Class A Clearwater, striking out two of the three batters he faced. He remains on track to return before the July 11-13 All-Star break. *