The rotation is just fine

There’s an old quote that says, “You can never have enough pitching.” Well, actually, you can, and that is what the Philadelphia Phillies are faced with now. They have potentially six starting pitchers and only five spots in the rotation.

The problem surfaced when the Phillies signed free agent Pedro Martinez in July as an insurance policy in case they had to trade away Rookie of the Year candidate J.A. Happ as part of a deal to land Roy Halladay. That deal never took place; Happ stayed, and the Phillies acquired Indians ace Cliff Lee instead.

When Lee joined the club last week, Rodrigo Lopez, who was filling in as the club’s fifth starter, had to move to the bullpen. Martinez, however, is still working out the bugs in the minor leagues, but when he is ready to come up and join the Phillies, many have speculated as to where he will go and what will happen to the rotation. The choice is not easy, but it might not be as complicated as some are making it out to be.

The top end of the rotation has no questions as to who will fill the spots: Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, and Joe Blanton. The only question here is whether or not Hamels can look like the ace he was back in October when he lead the Phillies to a World Championship. Cole has struggled this year at times, and excluding his last start against the Giants where he gave up six earned runs in just five innings, he appeared to be stringing together a few good starts against Florida, San Diego, and Arizona, and he looked like the Hamels of old.

The back end of the rotation, however, is where all the controversy has been brewing for the past few weeks. Three pitchers – J.A. Happ, Jamie Moyer, Pedro Martinez – and only two spots.

Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. filled one of those spots on Wednesday after J.A. Happ tossed a complete game shutout over the Colorado Rockies. Happ upped his record to 8-2 on the year and dropped his ERA to 2.74. Prior to that start, he lost his previous two outings, was faced with swirling trade talk, and had to deal with rumors that he might get moved to the bullpen.

The sheer fact Happ was able to show composure amidst such chaos and toss a gem is one of the reasons he needs to pitch every fifth day. Also, it would be unwise to even consider tinkering with Happ at this point. He is a young hurler who is pitching fantastically for the Phillies right now, and moving him back to the bullpen would not only weaken the rotation, but it would also mess with his confidence. I seem to recall young pitchers named Gavin Floyd and Ryan Madson who went back and forth, and that didn’t work out so well for the Phils now did it?

Next up is the ageless Jamie Moyer. Charlie Manuel mentioned earlier in the week that he wanted Jamie to stay in the rotation, and I almost agree with Charlie to a point. Jamie does lead the team in wins, but he also bolsters a 5.55 ERA, which is worst amongst starters. The reason he has the most wins is primarily because he typically faces one of the opposing team’s worst pitchers, and the Phillies give him a ton of run support. Yes, he does string together a few good outings every so often, but there are too many times like the one on Tuesday where he gave up six earned runs in five innings and walked four batters.

With that said, I still don’t think shipping Jamie off to the bullpen is such a good idea. First of all, Moyer hasn’t pitched in relief since the mid 1990’s. Second, Jamie would be coming into situations where he would have to get out of jams, which a lot of relievers rely on their fastball to do, and let’s face it, an 86 mph fastball isn’t mowing down anyone. Third, being in the bullpen means you have to be ready to pitch almost every day, and I think at age 47, Jamie has earned his four days off in between starts.

Lastly, there is Pedro Martinez, the man for whom all this controversy is over. When Pedro joins the team, he should do so as a member of the bullpen. I honestly don’t think Pedro has what it takes to be an effective starter any more. If he did, he would have had a job for the first four months of the season. He can probably get the job done for one, two, or maybe even three innings, but once lineups begin to face him a second time around, I feel they would start to tee off on him.

Plus, I don’t think Pedro’s arm can last into the seventh inning as a starter. So if you replace Moyer with Pedro, you would be replacing a guy in the rotation who can’t pitch seven innings for a guy who can’t even pitch six innings. That doesn’t exactly help out an already overworked bullpen. As a result, Pedro could pitch either in long relief or maybe take turns making guest appearances with Brett Myers in the ninth inning if Brad Lidge begins to struggle again.