The Phillies have a decent starting rotation this season provided Jamie Moyer continues to pitch well. We don't need anymore of those first two playoff performances he gave us.
So assuming that Moyer is ok (and that's probably a lot to assume), the top four in the rotation (in any order) are Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Moyer and Joe Blanton. Not a bad start. But, who will be fifth?
Read this and prepare to lose every fifth game this season. As of now, Rich Dubee says it will be Kyle Kendrick .
"In my mind he's the leading candidate," Dubee said yesterday. "I can't walk away from those 21 wins."
In 50 MLB starts, Kendrick is 21-13. Not bad, right? Well, also consider that W/L is a deceiving stat and he had tons of run support in many of those games. He was miserable last year and has a cumulative ERA of 4.78 during his time in the bigs.
Kendrick does not have much movement or action on his pitches, and that will get you killed at this level. One of his good qualities is that he's pretty mentally strong and doesn't get rattled. It's nice to know that he's nice and relaxed as the runs pile up and his team is put in a hole.
I was high on Kendrick after the 2007 season, but he's been figured out. Whatever led to his prior success is gone. Phillies, please find someone else.
J.A. Happ, Chan Ho Park and Carlos Carassco are also competing for the job. Carassco is a top prospect and could end up starting the season in Triple-A. Park has pitched for a while but raise your hand if you'd be doing jumping jacks with him as your 5. I like Happ. Why can't Happ get a shot? He started four games last year and had a 2.28 ERA. That should be enough to get him the lead in the competition. If JC Romero didn't get suspended for 50 games, maybe Happ would be a much easier choice. I guess they might need him the bullpen.
Still….Kyle Kendrick? C'mon.
