A Phils pitch-a-palooza

Posted on Wed, Nov. 4, 2009
Michael Smerconish: A Phils Pitch-a-palooza!
By Michael Smerconish - Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Opinion Columnist

CLIFF OR COLE? Hamels or Happ?

The Phillies haven't even forced a Game 7 yet, but already the debate around town about who should start a final game has begun.

But I've already figured it out.

I think I can make skipper Charlie Manuel's decision a little easier. My solution? The kitchen sink. Pitch everybody for an inning each. No exceptions if a guy is lights out. No leeway if he gets jammed up. And I'm serious.

Here's how my lineup card would look.

First inning: Cole Hamels.
Second: Cliff Lee.
Third: Joe Blanton.
Fourth: J.A. Happ.
Fifth: Brad Lidge.
Sixth: Chad Durbin.
Seventh: Brett Myers.
Eighth: Scott Eyre.
Ninth: Ryan Madson.
Reserves: Chan Ho Park, Antonio Bastardo.

Spare me the knee-jerk negativism for such an unorthodox plan. Throwing (at least) nine pitchers against the Yankees' vaunted starting lineup would satisfy several elements needed for a Phils' victory.

It would ensure that the team's best, most consistent pitchers - Lee, Happ and Blanton - pitch in the biggest game in franchise history. It would offer Hamels both relief (he doesn't have to face the task of shutting down baseball's most powerful lineup for seven innings) and a shot at redemption.

It leaves Park, a guy used to pitching multiple innings, as an option should the game go into extra innings. And it'll force a notoriously persistent Yankees lineup to face a fresh pitcher every inning for the whole game.

Unlike their status in prior years, the Phils are one of the few teams in baseball with the resources to take such a risk. Put aside that the team's starting rotation was unusually deep down the stretch. The Phils' pitching staff is full of players who have experience and success as starters and relievers.

Happ, Park, Myers and Madson have all proved adept at excelling in new roles. He's not on the World Series roster, but even Jamie Moyer proved this year that an old dog can learn new tricks. Bottom line? This is a staff that already knows they can handle implementing a new game plan on the fly.

If you think this a half-baked sideshow, consider that a major-league player with success as both a starter and reliever suggested a similar strategy on the eve of the playoffs. Here's how John Smoltz advised Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci on the question of how to beat the Yankees: "I would treat it like a spring-training game with my pitchers. I would keep bringing in a fresh arm to pitch to them, rather than asking my starting pitcher to go deep into the game trying to get them out two, three, four times. They just wear out a pitcher.

"I know nobody would ever do it, because what message would people think you were giving your starting pitcher? But their lineup is so deep I would change pitchers every two or three innings, just like you do in spring training."

I'm willing to take Smoltz's strategy a step further, especially in light of the number-crunching Verducci did after speaking with the future Hall of Famer.

He took a look at how the L.A. Angels' starters fared in their first, second and third times through the Yanks lineup in this year's ALCS. The Angels' ERA more than doubled (from 2.19 to 5.19) between the first time and the third time through the lineup. The Yankees' on-base percentage increased from .333 to .421. The Bronx Bombers hit for a higher average, drew more walks and scored more runs in the second and third times through the lineup than the first.

The trend has continued with the Phils. The Yankees are hitting .146 with three runs scored in their first time through the lineup. Facing a Phils starter for the third time, they're hitting .314 with six runs scored.

THERE'S ONE more argument for a Game 7 revolving door: adrenaline.

Everybody on the Fightin's roster is going to be heading into a Game 7 at Yankee Stadium with a head of steam. Even the guy most responsible for this crisis of pitching in the first place.

"Who wouldn't want the ball in Game 7?" Cole Hamels said on Monday. "That is the ultimate dream . . . I've always wanted it, will always take it dearly, always pitch to my last breath."

Why not give each of his fellow Phils hurlers the same chance?