Who Will be the 5th Starter? (Part III)

Written by: Josh Landsburg on 10th March 2009

Who Will be the 5th Starter? (Part III) | read this item

At the beginning of camp, Rich Dubee, pitching coach for the Phillies, had Kyle Kendrick as the favorite to win this battle because of what he had done for the Phillies, and he really liked the 20 wins that Kendrick had accumulated and said that he just needed to work on his changeup and he would be fine. However, Kendrick does not have the job won just yet, and the real competition is just heating up.

In fact, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, Dubee said recently, “The race hasn’t started. The gun is getting ready to go off. We’re getting out of the blocks pretty soon.” So, there is certainly a lot of competition going on for this spot. Therefore, it is tough to say who will win this spot right now.

However, I think that J.A. Haap might be the one best suited for that role because of the way he pitched down the stretch last year. “J.A. threw the ball fine,” Dubee said. “He made one mistake on a lefty. Again, his presence was good. His tempo was good. He flashed his good stuff. It’s still a little inconsistent, but it’s early.” (March 2nd, Phillies.com)

“I’ve felt like that for two years now,” Happ said, when asked if he feels like every start is an audition. “That’s kind of how it is. That’s baseball. You play for a job, but that’s OK.” (Phillies.com)

Updates on all four pitchers last outings coming up in the next post, so stay tuned.

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Topics: J.A. Haap, Kyle Kendrick, Rich Dubee

gophillies says:

March 11, 2009 at 9:30 pm

How great is it this year to be a Phillies fan? When the biggest concern is who wil be the FIFTH starter??? Awesome, gonna repeat for sure.