I was sitting at my desk this morning with my head buried deep in a quantum analysis textbook.  Instead of actually working, I spent the majority of my time sulking over the fifth starters spot in the Phillies' rotation; J.D. Durbin, Eaton, Chad Durbin and Blackley simply are not getting the job done. Some fans are backing the youth movement, wanting to see Carrasco, Carpenter or Outman take the job.  I think this is a great idea, however, promoting pitchers who are not developmentally ready could damage their long term futures.  So, with this in mind, I would like to throw a forgotten name into the ring, J.A. Happ.
     I have no faith in "real deal" Durbin.  I simply do not think he will ever be an adequate major league pitcher, not even as a 12th man on a staff.  Eaton, obviously, is having a world of issues.  I admit that earlier in this off season I was supporting Eaton, thinking that his '08 season would closer resemble his career line rather than that atrocity of an '07 season.  However, Eaton has suffered multiple injuries and a severe case of ineffectiveness, which has me seriously questioning whether Eaton can ever take a major league mound again without causing suicide rates to spike in the greater Philadelphia area.  Durbin, I believe, is Durbin.  By that I mean he is a 29 year old pitcher, going into his 9th big league season, with a career ERA of 5.75 and a career whip of 1.566.  He is a starter only on last place teams.  
     Blackley is a slightly different case.  Blackley has pitched to a 4.37 ERA in AAA over the past two seasons, both of which have been post-labrum surgery.  His SO/BB rate is 1.91.  While I believe it is a long shot, I do have hope that Blackley could give the Phils an ERA south of 5 at the back end of our rotation.  
     This leaves Happ.  Happ had a brilliant minor league career before the '07 season.  Including his disastrous '07 season, in which he had a 5.02 ERA and 1.52 whip at AAA, Happ's minor league career numbers are as follows: 3.25 ERA, 1.22 whip, .617 HR/9 and 2.5 SO/BB.  Also, do not believe that Happ simply beat up on inferior and younger competition in the low minors.  In '06, Happ (then 23) posted an ERA of 2.68 and a whip of 1.07 across A+, AA and AAA.  Happ will be coming into his age 25 season, and while he certainly did not thrive in AAA last year, he has pitched against the highest level of competition in the minors for a full year.  I could understand if the Phils placed Happ back in AAA to continue to refine his pitches and force him to show improvement before promoting him to the bigs.  However, I feel '07 was an aberration for Happ and not the Norm.  Even though he struggled, Happ has faced and gained experience against AAA batters.  This ST, in only 4 IP, he has given up 3 hits and 1 earned run.  I know this means little to nothing, seeing as it is the first two weeks of ST games and is such a small sample size, however, if Happ continues to pitch well (I think he will), I feel he is our best option to be the fifth starter.  Not only could he hold down the spot until Benson is ready or the Phils desperately trade for another starter, but perhaps he could give league average production with some upside.  That sounds a lot better than "real deal", Eaton, Durbin or Blackley.