The Philadelphia Phillies’ biggest surprise of the 2009 season is young left-handed pitcher J.A. Happ. During spring training, seven pitchers were fighting for five spots in the starting rotation. Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Jamie Moyer and Joe Blanton were locks for the first four spots. The fifth spot in the Phillies’ starting rotation was a three player battle between Kyle Kendrick, Chan Ho Park and J.A. Happ. No one expected Happ to earn the spot, and no one ever expected the numbers that he would go on to put up when he eventually earned his way into the rotation. He has become a great compliment to an excellent rotation.

Who would have thought that out of the three players competing, Happ would be the one to go on and shine? Kyle Kendrick went 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 20 starts in 2007, his rookie year. He was a little less consistent in 2008, posting an 11-9 record with an ERA of 5.49 in 31 starts. Chan Ho Park brought a career record of 117-92 and an All-Star appearance on his resume. J.A. Happ had only made five career starts at the Major League level with a 1-1 record with 31 strikeouts in nine total appearances over the previous two seasons. Chan Ho Park would go on to win the fifth spot, Kyle Kendrick would be sent to the AAA to pitch on a regular basis, and J.A. Happ would make the Phillies’ roster as a relief pitcher, mainly used as a long reliever.

Chan Ho Park would struggle early on this season in the starting rotation. In his first six starts, Park had a 1-1 record with 22 earned runs. On top of that, Brett Myers would be lost for the season due to a torn hip labrum. J.A. Happ was given a chance to start, and he has been quietly outshining the rest of the pitchers in the Phillies’ formidable rotation. In 11 starts since taking over for Park, Happ has gone 5-0 with eight quality starts, pitching at least six innings and giving up three earned runs or less, including six in a row. That is the same amount of quality starts that ace Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer, the ageless wonder himself, each have while starting the whole season.

Now the Phillies have four front line starters in Hamels, Moyer, Blanton and Happ. A fifth starter is on the way, as the Phillies have recently signed three time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez. Martinez brings with him a 214-99 record, a very respectable 2.91 ERA and 3117 strikeouts in his career. He also brings experience, veteran guidance for the locker room and a World Series Championship that he won with the Boston Red Sox in 2004. The down side to this move, however, is his health. Pedro spent most of the 2007 and 2008 seasons injured, and he has yet to pitch in the Majors this year. Only time will tell if Pedro can still pitch at Cy Young caliber.

While the Phillies wait to see how well Pedro can pitch this year, and while they hope that Hamels, Moyer and Blanton can find some consistency, one thing is sure right now. J.A. Happ is the best pitcher the Phillies have. He is young but pitches with the poise and confidence of a skilled veteran right now. If he maintains his composure and continues to pitch at this rate, he could be looking at a Rookie of the Year award. It may be one of the quietest Rookie of the Year campaigns in Major League Baseball, but it cannot be overlooked. When a rookie pitches as good as, if not better, than a World Series MVP and a 20+ year veteran, it is very difficult to overlook him during Rookie of the Year conversations. J.A. Happ could become the first Philadelphia Phillies pitcher to win the Rookie of the Year award since Jack Sanford won it in 1957. That is if he isn’t traded to Toronto for Roy Halladay, but that is another story.

The list of position players that have taken the mound in 2009 are Nick Swisher of the New York Yankees, Cody Ross of the Florida Marlins, Jonathan Van Every of the Boston Red Sox, Paul Janish of the Cincinnati Reds and Josh Wilson of the Arizona Diamondbacks. When a position player takes to the mound during a regular season game it is looked at as a very embarrassing situation for the team but some of the position players that have to pitch take their new assignment in stride.

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The first position player to grab the honors in 2009 was Swisher of the Yankees. Swisher had to pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 13th. Swisher threw one scoreless inning, 22 total pitches, and topped out at 80 MPH on the radar gun. This fad has continued to become popular over the years. There have been 107 position players to pitch in a regular season Major League game since 1979. 55 of the 107 position players to take the mound have left the hill with a 0.00 ERA like Swisher.

The Arizona Diamondbacks fired manager Bob Melvin late at night on May 7th and replaced him with Farm Director and former Major League catcher A.J. Hinch. Hinch used a position player to pitch only six games into his managerial career when Josh Wilson took the mound on May 11th when the Diamondbacks lost to the Cincinnati Reds 13-5. Wilson tossed a scoreless inning of relief in the loss.

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The position player with the most appearances on the mound right now is Aaron Miles of the Chicago Cubs. Miles made three appearances for the St. Louis Cardinals over the past two seasons. Some of the most famous position players to pitch in a Major League game during their career includes Jose Canseco, Wade Boggs, John Russell (manager of the Pirates) and Terry Francona (manager of the Red Sox). Canseco pitched for the Texas Rangers in 1993 and injured his elbow while doing so for manager Kevin Kennedy. Canseco missed the final three months of the season due to the injury.

Some may think it is embarrassing to toe the hill as a position player but others like the challenge of throwing ‘heat’ to Major League hitters since they might never get the chance to do so ever again during their career. Let’s face it folks, with the continued bashing of the baseball throughout the league more and more position players will continue to make pitching appearances for their team to save the rest of the pitching staff.