J.A. Happ To Remain In The Phils Starting Rotation; Possible 6-Man Rotation???

Ever since the Phillies signed Cliff Lee there was rampant speculation as to who would be the latest member of The Pen. The likely candidates at the time were Pedro Martinez and J.A. Happ with an outside shot of Old Man Jamie Moyer being demoted. Well, it looks like we can scratch one of those names off the list as Ruben Amaro, Jr. has stated that J.A. Happ will remain in the Phillies starting rotation. Via CSN Philly.

Call it a crazy convergence of unnatural forces. No one thought a three-time Cy Young Award winner and one of the best pitchers of a generation would be vying for a spot in the Phillies’ rotation along with a 23-season veteran with more career wins than Bob Gibson and Happ, who very well could be the NL Rookie of the Year.

Of course no one thought the Phillies would have another Cy Young Award winner fronting the rotation in Cliff Lee, either. So if the Phillies have been caught a little off guard, it’s understandable. Besides, it’s not the planning anyone cares about – it’s the result of it all.

So thanks in part to the 10-strikeout performance in Wednesday night’s shutout as well as the most consistent work of any starter on the club all season long, Happ and his 8-2 record and 2.74 ERA will remain in the starting rotation.

“Happ’s not going anywhere. He’s not going out of the rotation,” Amaro said. “He deserves to stay in the rotation. He’s pitched very well. He’s probably been our most effective starter.”

With Happ in the starting five, the Phillies have lefties Lee and Cole Hamels as well as the resurgent Joe Blanton. The final spot is currently taken up by veteran lefty Jamie Moyer, which is the biggest point of contention. Since Martinez is ready to be activated whenever the Phillies give the OK, the question is what to do with Moyer?

Though he leads the team in wins with 10 (and losses with eight), Moyer is the weakest link of the current five starters. His ERA is the second-worst in the league amongst the 49 starters that qualify for the ERA title with a 5.55 mark that explodes over 6 when his three starts against the Marlins are eliminated.

However, Moyer’s soft stuff likely won’t play well in the bullpen. Neither will the fact that he needs ample time to warm up before pitching. Plus, to be fair, the Marlins are the Phillies’ closest competitors and Moyer has owned them (13-2 in 15 career starts).

Aye, there’s the rub.

“We still haven’t made a decision,” Amaro said. “But it’s not out of the realm of possibility that six guys could pitch in our rotation.”

Well then! That last part certainly caught me a bit off guard. I was not quite expecting to read that, I guess because a 6-man rotation is unheard of, but at this point it might actually make some sense. Jamie Moyer, and I truly love the guy as a player, is not a bullpen pitcher. His struggles frequently come in the early innings of games, and when you are a bullpen pitcher, you need to come off the bench and get out of the inning. The Pen would be more suiting for Moyer say if he could generally go the 1st 4 innings fine and had his struggles then. But the other side of that coin, is how in the blue hell do you go out and sign shoe-in future hall-of-famer Pedro Martinez to a 1-year deal, have him do numerous minor-league rehab starts, only to place him in The Pen? He's at the end of his career, obviously, and while on paper it is not a bad idea at all, there would no doubt be questions of how Martinez can adapt to such a situation.

What will actually happen, I have no idea, but this is probably without a doubt the best damn problem that the Phillies have had all season.