Happ Continues Dominance

The Phillies trade for Cliff Lee looks better every day-- even when he isn't pitching.

When J.A. Happ is on the mound, Toronto’s rejection of the Phils’ offer of Happ and their 3 most developed prospects looks like a favor.

Roy Halladay, whose greatness is indisputable, is 1-4 since June 7th, allowing 21 hits in his past 16 innings.

Happ, meanwhile, seems more confident and in control with every start. In June, Happ walked 16 and struck out 19 in 33 innings. In July, he pitched 40 innings, walking just 7, while striking out 31. Tonight, Happ struck out a season high 10, while walking only 2, improving his record to 8-2, a better winning % than Halladay’s (.800 to .687.), albeit for a more winning team.

Happ earned 3 standing ovations tonight. The 1st was after the top of the 8th, the next was when he came to bat in the bottom half of the inning, and the 3rd was after he doubled in that at-bat.

In 14 starts this year, Happ has thrown 2 complete game shoutouts and pitched an additional 2 games where he yielded no runs in 7 innings. In all, that's 4 starts allowing 0 runs in 2 months of dominance.

It's safe to say that if the season ended today, Happ would be Philly's 1st Rookie of the Year since teammate Ryan Howard in 2005.

Now, please tell me the majority of Philly sports writers are mistaken in asserting that Happ is en route to a return trip to the bullpen when Pedro joins the Major League club.

I realize the Phils have never given Happ the credit he deserves, but this would be crossing a line, even for them. Tonight, Happ made me proud for protesting the Phils while they were trying to trade him.

Offensive notes:

The Phillies had 4 players with 20 homers at the All-Star break, which was the 2nd time a team has managed that feat in MLB history. Now, the same 4 Phils are in the top 10 in HRs and top 11 in Rbis: Howard, Utley, Ibanez and Werth. They must be enjoying the in-team competition!