The extra day off in the Phillies/Rockies series gave pitcher J.A. Happ an extra day to recover from being hit by a comebacker and likewise an extra day for Charlie Manuel to contemplate his starter. In the end, Manuel decided to go with Happ over Pedro Martinez because he prefers to have a lefty pitch against the Rockies lineup and because the conditions aren’t ideal in Denver. Game 3 was postponed Saturday because of ice and snow on the field, not to mention temperatures in the teens — a record low for the day. That brings up another point — why the heck is baseball being played outdoors in Denver in October? Just another reason to shorten the regular season.
Pedro Martinez seems to be cool with the decision that bumped him from what would be his first start in 10 days. He’s said he would like to get some work in before attempting to start a big game, but still, I’d rather take my chances with Pedro over Happ, not to say that Happ can’t get the job done. Manuel seems to really be set on going with a lefty considering Todd Helton, Carlos Gonzalez, and Brad Hawpe’s stats all are worse against southpaw pitchers. Even with that being the case, they still scored enough runs to beat Cole Hamels meaning just throwing a lefty out there doesn’t equate to a win. Maybe the better question than who will the Phillies start is when will they play? Outdoor baseball in cold climates in October is always a bad idea.
