BY SCOTT LAUBERChan Ho Park is a big deal in South Korea. A really big deal.
When he makes a start in the majors, the game is televised in his homeland. When he agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Phillies in December, he held a press conference with the Korean media, even though he wouldn't be taking his physical or making the deal official for another month. And yesterday in Seoul, he cried when he announced that he won't be pitching for South Korea in the World Baseball Classic.
But Park badly wants to earn the No. 5 spot in the Phillies' starting rotation. So badly, in fact, that he's willing to pass on pitching for his country, a country that he cares so deeply for, to spend more time in camp during spring training and enhance his chances of competing with J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick and Carlos Carrasco. Park may well win that job, depending on his performance in the Grapefruit League, and he'd surely bring more experience to the back of the rotation behind Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer.
But here's something to keep in mind: He has been in the majors for 15 years, nine of which have been spent with the Dodgers. Park's career numbers in L.A.: 84-58, 3.77 ERA. His numbers in Texas, San Diego and New York (with the Mets): 33-34, 5.63 ERA.
So, who do you want to see as the Phillies' No. 5 starter?
(Associated Press photo)
3 comments:
I don't have a "who I want" as #5. Let 'em fight it out in the spring for both the #5 and slots open in the pen. There are certainly possibilities if not one guy who truly stands out at this point among Park, Happ, Kendrick, and Carrasco for #5 or the pen, and other pen possibilities Carpenter, Koplove, Majewski, and maybe Zaguski and Mathieson. Should be interesting to watch how it shakes out.
Carrasco - time to see what the stud can do.
It's so incredibly obvious that JA Happ should be the 5th starter that it's not even funny.
Chan Ho Park has been a bad starter for this entire decade. There is no way that a half dozen games against minor leaguers and major leaguers who are working on their swings can disprove what 100 games of 5+ ERA starting already can.
Kyle Kendrick has demonstrated what all sabermetric theory said for his entire first season-- that without a strikeout pitch, he would not be able to be a successful pitcher. There is no reason why a pitcher pitches that differently with runners on base and sustains it as scouts gather information on him.
Carrasco is not ready yet. A few good games against minor leaguers and major leaguers working out their swings shouldn't change what the story is about him-- he needs some work on his control. He's young and we get six years of major league service time out of him. Isn't it better to have him in the minors for 2009 and still under team control of 2015, rather than struggling in 2009 and a free agent after 2014.
That takes us to JA Happ. He has demonstrated a domination of AAA and has had a little bit of short lived success in the majors. He's a #5 starter at this point, but there's nothing left for him to prove in the minors. He's the only one who should be on a major league rotation now.
I think that this is pretty much the plan all along. When the Phillies sign guys like Park, Durbin, and Franklin, they tell them they might make the rotation but they don't even with good spring training performance. The Phillies make mistakes, but this is one area that I think the World Champions know what they're doing. Look for JA Happ in Colorado April 11!
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