Last night’s game against the Mets was the best Chan Ho Park has pitched since spring training. I don’t know if he actually figured out what was wrong with his pitching or the motivation of losing his job caused him to pitch that way.
Park went six innings against the Mets, only giving up one hit and two walks to go along with five strikeouts. He was lifted for a pinch hitter when the Phillies had a man on 2nd base against Santana. I think that was a mistake. Park was dealing at that point and he should have stayed in the game. He was at 91 pitches thrown for the game, but he should have been allowed to hit and at least start the next inning.
The bullpen came in and did a good job, but Park should have been able to keep going. Scott Eyre got the loss, but that run was a fault of a few different people. (Pedro Feliz, Jayson Werth to name two)
With this performance, I think the J.A. Happ watch can be postponed at least a few more rotations. Park deserves a few more starts to prove that he figured it our, rather than just pitching well because he didn’t want to lose his job.
We’ll find out in 5 more days.
-KK
