It’s Monday, that means its time for a discussion question. JA Happ is one of the few reasons to check the Lehigh Valley box scores. After a rough 2007, largely marred by injury, Happ has come out in much better fashion this season;
46.1 IP — 2.72 ERA — 34 H — 23 BB — 55 K — 4 HR — 1.35 GO/AO
Happ’s 2.72 ERA is probably a bit low considering the number of base runners allowed coupled with the 4 HR. His biggest problem is still the free pass. He’s walked 12 in his last 25.1 innings over 5 starts, and before that had walked 5 guys in back to back starts. Is it a case of true wildness, or is he just nibbling too much? The swings and misses are still there, that’s evident in the strikeout numbers, but are the walks due to his not having control/command of his pitches, or a case of him trying to be too fine? Last season in his major league debut he was nibbling way too much. Obviously he was fighting nerves that day, but its something he’s going to have to work on to be successful. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he needs to be aggressive and cut down on the walks.
So, at what point will Happ be ready to step into the rotation?
Phuture Phillies 
the walks scare me, but eaton walks a lot of people too. i really don’t see any downside of pitching him over eaton. what a disaster of a free agent signing he has been.
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I saw Happ pitch in person once this season, and I must say the walks were scattered and he pitched effectively wild for seven innings, without really ever getting into trouble…. I say at the very least he will help this team sometime this year, how soon IDK, but I think he is deserving of another chance….
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He honestly can’t do any worse than the garbage being spewed by Myers, Eaton, and Moyer in their latest respective starts. While I still hold out hope that Myers will come around, Moyer is starting to be a cause for concern and Eaton…well he’s just downright horrible.
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Happ is ready to fill in whenever needed.
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Myers just needs to start throwing his freaking fastball and forget about his cutter most of the time and he’ll be fine. Fastball curve fastball curve is what he needs. Moyer’s doing his best but he’s 45 and probably done despite a wonderful career. Eaton is on a very short rope. He was alright yesterday (he wasn’t the reason they lost) but he’s a 5th starter on a good day and he doesnt’ have that many good days. I’d give Happ a shot if he keeps it up.
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Anything is better then Eaton…even if he is pitching against the Mets! I would rather see Happ in there. Things need to be shaken up a bit anyway. Utley and Burrell have come back to earth, Howard still hasn’t found his stroke (God I hope he does soon) and Jimmy is coming off of an injury. We need some sort of spark and maybe he can provide it.
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I wouldn’t mind seeing Happ get the opportunity over what Eaton is falling back into but when the move is made it has to be done on a permanent basis, not just a spot start or two.
For that reason, I don’t see it happening as long as Benson is still out there as a possibility as well..
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I think, at the very least, it would make sense to bring him up almost immediately, and give him plenty of time in the bullpen (not Castro time, but bring him in as soon as Moyer/Eaton flares out in the 5th inning), and see how he does. If he controls the nerves and all, give him some spot starts. He’s certainly got “stuff”, and it’s just a matter of putting him in a position to not get burned by walks, which I think means easing him in through the bullpen.
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how often would he really pitch out of the Pen though? If he took over the 5th spot in the rotation at least he’d be on a somewhat consistent schedule which is important for starters. Right now Durbin is getting almost all of the meaningful long relief situations.
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I am surprised that we’ve gone this far into the season without an injury to one of the starters.
In any event, I’m not sure Happ’s ready to step in and be highly effective. I think he’s going to have an adjustment period in the majors – it may be 3 starts or it may be a whole season. One option would be to bring Happ to the majors and have him pitch middle relief while he gets used to the big leagues. The plus is that it allows him to work into a position. The minus is that he will not be stretched out if he is called upon to start. I, however, would take my chances and call him and send Condrey to the minors. If he really looks good, then they’ll have to make a decision.
The most logical person for him to replace is Moyer (old player, contract over at the end of the year), but Moyer is, arguably, the team’s third-best starter. Kendrick shouldn’t be touched unless he is to be sent to the minors and I don’t think he deserves that fate – at least not now. As for Eaton, he makes too much to be cast aside and he shows signs of life as he does have good stuff.
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I think they need to send him up to replace Eaton ASAP. Who cares how much money the guy is making, at this point that money is already gone and his performance is bringing negative value to the team. At least if Happ comes up and struggles it will still be of some good to develop young talent. Eaton’s struggles serve no purpose.
The only drawback to bringing up Happ would be having three lefties in the rotation, which I’m not so sure is necessarily a drawback.
Eaton needs to go on the DL or something, I’m tired of crossing my fingers every 5th day. As for the other 3 struggling starters, Myers will come around, Moyer is old but he deserves one last full season, and Kendrick hasn’t been great, but once again at least as he is struggling we’re developing a young talent.
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Personally, i could care less about Eaton’s salary – it makes no difference to me. Unfortunately, I’m not the one making the decision and you can be pretty damned well sure that it matters to the Phillies. Even if the long term goal is to get rid of Eaton, they are going to give him every chance to succeed to justify the investment or prop him up for a trade. Unless he truly sucks (as he did last year), he’s going to play while he’s in a Phillies uniform. Get used to it.
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Happ has looked pretty decent the couple times I saw him this year. He mixes up his stuff and is pretty effective.
He must be frustrated as hell not getting any run support from this sorry bunch of AAA lifers we are stuck with here. Plus Jaramillo has not caught well from what I’ve seen and the fielding has been atrocious. He got leapfrogged by Kendrick because of a minor injury so hopefully he will get another solid chance.
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I certainly think they need to bring up Happ. He can only be an improvement over Eaton. Unless Eaton shows a legitimate improvement in the next month, I think Happ is up in June.
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It will be up to the Phils FO to deterrmine justv when hecwill be reasdy to come up. The role they’d like him to play
will be an influence: the relief corps has performed well so far…it’s the starters that have been problematical.
Moyer & Eaton have been so inconsistent that I see one of them being replaced and moved to the pen to make room for Happ. IMO, Eaton could better serve as a reliever IF he could find better command/strike-pounding; OTOH, Moyer could be a realconfuser coming in to relief behind a hard thrower for an inning or two.
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Really, what’s the harm? It’s not like Happ is some elite level prospect, and I’d be upset if he’s in the rotation two years from now. Given that Moyer, Eaton, and Kendrick don’t figure to get any better, something has to change.
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Big start for Happ tonight against Norfolk with the fourth highest batting average in the league but with little power. Got to be soon time to DL Eaton again for some ailment or the other. Just can’t keep running him out there for 4 or 5 innings every start and be serious about post season.
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Myers has been more worrisome than Eaton lately.
Happ will get to go against Mike Costanzo who I believe is the starting 3B for Norfolk…and he’s playing like crap so the Lidge trade looks pretty good so far.
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