5th Starter’s Opener Might Be Weeks Away
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Wed, March 25, 2009 10:16 AM | Comments: 17
Issues, Posts
For all this talk about a fifth starter, there may not even be one announced until mid April.
David Murphy brings up a solid point in his latest blog post: The Phillies can work with a four-man rotation (even with Cole Hamels returning April 10) until April 15 in Washington.
Here is Murphy’s designed predicted rotation:
March 26: Carlos Carrasco.
March 27: Brett Myers
March 28: Jamie Moyer and J.A. Happ
March 29: Joe Blanton and Cole Hamels
March 30: Chan Ho Park
March 31: Myers
April 1: Carrasco
April 2: Jamie Moyer*
April 3: Joe Blanton*
April 4: Cole Hamels*
April 5 (Braves): Myers*
April 7 (Braves): Moyer*
April 8 (Braves): Blanton*
April 10 (Rockies): Hamels*
April 11 (Rockies): Myers*
April 12 (Rockies): Moyer*
April 13 (Nationals): Blanton*
April 15 (Nationals): Happ/Park** Projected
That means Happ can start the season in triple-A, starting the IronPigs season opener April 9. That would make the Philadelphia pitching staff look like this: Hamels/Myers/Moyer/Blanton/Lidge/Madson/Durbin/Eyre/Condrey/Park. That makes 10 pitchers. The 11th?
Gary Majewski.
Murphy thinks the right-handed veteran will make the team soon enough, and I agree – he’s pitched well enough to make it (3.27 ERA this spring). Once April 15 comes, Happ moves up and a hitter moves to Lehigh Valley (or either Matt Stairs or Geoff Jenkins is traded by then).
The moral of the story? Nothing will be completely determined yet.
Posts: 0 Don M
If Happ were to start the season in AAA, what would that do to his waiver/option situation.. can’t you only move players up and down so many times before you risk losing them?
Posted: 10:26 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
Happ has one option remaining. If the Phils send him to the minors to start the season, he exhausts that option (an option lasts a whole season, so if the Phils want to move him back down and up in 2009, they can without wasting options).
Basically if the Phils option Happ this season, they’ll have to either keep him on 25-man or waive him by 2010.
Posted: 10:30 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Chien Ming Wang is available….
Posted: 10:42 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Don M
Wang would be good in this ballpark… but he’s probably not worth the asking price the Yankees will be throwing out there.. the only great that he has is a win total, thanks to two 19-win seasons
a career ERA of 3.79 is good.. and his WHIP is solid at 1.29.. but i’d imagine the Yankees are trying to shop him as though he is an ACE, which really isn’t the case
Posted: 10:48 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Hed be a very good number 2 or 3 guy….they basically said theyre not going to sign him to a cotract extension so whoever ponies up the best offer gets him…not right now, but eventually. maybe by the deadline or in the offseason.
hes a sinkerballer so if he is available i think the phillies should be all over him once the yankees decide its time for him to go…youve got hamels in there, and i believe myers will be resigned this season. i dont trust moyer though i think carrasco or happ would replace him depending on parks performance if he wins the 5th starter. maybe they could include blanton….even though hes a fine starter as well…who knows…tahts a ways off i think. later in the season perhaps..
Posted: 10:54 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Mike W.
I don’t see Manuel doing this. He’s always been a guy who never shuffles around rotations due to off days. Either Happ or Park will be pitching in that first week, bet on it.
Not a big Murphy fan fyi.
Posted: 11:05 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 christopher
get out of here with this wang talk.
Posted: 11:18 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Phan in TN
thought he was just giving him some chien music
Posted: 11:21 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Kev
Haha, why would they get rid him now? Their the yankees, money isn’t a problem, and their rotation is nasty with him, CC, Burnett, Wang, Pettite, Joba? Why would they trade him and stick one of those bums in there like Hughes or Kennedy?
Posted: 11:21 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Brooks
You are resigned that no matter how Cole pitches in his next outting, he does not start until the 10th?
If he says he feels good, let him pitch – I’m anxious to see Myers pitching soon. We all have so – so days .. 10 men on base in 5 innings, 4 extra base hits and only 2 runs. We saw some of that last year too.
Thanks for the info about the 2nd – sounds like a gas.
Can’t ya smell it?? Opening day is inching up!
Posted: 11:46 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Duffie D
I’m sorry, am I missing something here? Why does the 5th spot have to start on the 15th with the off date on the 14th? Murphy’s projected rotation has the team skipping the 5th spot due to the off days on the 6th and 9th, and they can still pitch all 4 guys on full rest due to the off day on the 14th.
I see Hamels pitching on the 15th as being MORE likely, since I seem to recall that in the past he has said he does not like it when he gets extra rest and prefers to stick to a more consistent schedule (I remember this being a point of discussion last season, I believe coming out of the All-Star Break).
Thoughts?
Posted: 11:53 AM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Brooks
I feel ya Duff D!
I think most of us were under the impression he might have been a little on the prima dona side – at least that was my fear and he excelled all my expectations so far. Hamels wants to be in there now and feels he will be effective the more he pitches -
Posted: 12:14 PM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Yeah if you recall last year they went with a full rotation right off the bat. i expect them to do the same thing…
Posted: 12:50 PM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 ryan
Redneck express pulling into the station on opening day! gotta love it.
Posted: 01:30 PM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Manny
But because we’re WFC, we have an extra off day –we start April 5th not 6th. So the schedule Tim posted makes a lot of sense. You don’t want Myers –or any of our starting pitchers– taking a week off between his first and second starts.
Posted: 02:01 PM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 Doug D.
There’s no need to rush Cole. Because of the off days, the #5 starter is not actully needed until April 20th. Until then, The Redneck Wrecking Crew (Myers and Blanton), The Ancient (Moyer), and Seoul Man (Park) can all pitch on their full 4 days rest between starts. Happ could be pitching for the Iron Pigs so that his regular turn comes on the 20th. That way, if Cole, for some unforseen reason, is not ready by then, Happ can slide into his psot until he is ready.
Posted: 03:21 PM on March 25, 2009
Posts: 0 hamels' left hand
I didn’t know sportswriters had “fans.” The dudes a beatwriter and his blog is the same retread news/filler that you get from Lauber and Zolecki…
Posted: 06:56 PM on March 25, 2009