Charlie Manuel misused his bullpen on Friday.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has seemingly pulled all the right strings during the postseason. Yesterday, he caused a critical mis-Happ with the way he used his pitching staff, specifically JA Happ.
Happ was one of the team’s most consistent starting pitchers all year long. The rookie-of-the-year candidate posted a 12-3 record and 2.93 ERA in 35 games, including 23 starts. He also had experience as a reliever, and Manuel mistakenly leaned on “Happ the reliever” yesterday.
Happ started the season in the bullpen, before replacing Chan Ho Park in the rotation. That move benefited both players, as Park thrived when pitching in relief. He was a disaster as a starter.
Although Happ pitched virtually lights out as a starter, Manuel was forced to make him available in the bullpen because the Phillies relievers have been ravished by injury.
In the eighth inning of Friday’s game, Uncle Charlie trudged his way to the mound to hand the ball to Happ with the score knotted at 1 and the bases juiced more than Barry Bonds in a BALCO lab. The problem is, Happ has not come into games in pressure-filled situations much this year, and definitely not in the last four months.
Bringing a young pitcher into a pressure-cooker when he’s generally been starting innings with nobody on base was asking for trouble.
Happ can bail himself out of jams he creates. He doesn’t have a large frame-of-reference for bailing the team out of situations other people create. He’s not a Scott Eyre or JC Romero. He’s not a Brad Lidge circa 2008.
Uncle Charlie put Happ in a situation for which he was ill prepared. Doing that in a postseason game with a commanding 2-0 series lead on the line was not one of the manager’s finest moves.
Phillies pitcher JA Happ, seen here earlier this year, walked in the winning run on Friday.
With no margin for error, Happ proceeded to walk in the winning run.
The fact is, Happ has not been able to get settled into a role this postseason. Obviously, he needs to be available as a reliever because he is the best option of the Phillies five starters. However, Manuel can’t decide what to do with his young gun.
Against Colorado, Happ pitched in relief in Game 2, then started Game 3. This series, he’s now had to come in as a reliever in each of the first two games. He needs to know his role because preparing as a reliever and starter are very different.
He’s not as finicky as Cole Hamels. However, he’s also not able to go with the flow like a Randy Johnson either.
Manuel has pushed the right buttons for most of the postseason. Yesterday, however, was a huge mis-Happ that cost the Phillies the game and sent both teams back to Philadelphia with the NLCS tied at one game each.
Manuel, Happ and the Phillies will look to rebound in Game 3 on Sunday night.
