Just let your soul glow

With Pedro Martinez, the last, best hope for the jhericurl, set to make his home debut for the Phillies tonight against the Diamondbacks, there are only two things I can think about: finding myself some Soul Glo and finding the Phillies a closer who isn't on the wrong side of his deal with the devil. We'll get down to the latter in a moment, but first, I need a moment to fix my hair...


The Brad Lidge situation, sadly, is a bit trickier than my 'do. Brett Myers appeared to many of us, myself included, to be the most likely savior. But then, of course, we remembered he was Brett Myers coming off not only hip surgery but any number of the following: his 4-year old son's fastball, his 4-year old son's toys, his own drunken buffoonery, and/or a bar fight involving his friend which he definitely witnessed but appears to have not taken part in. So, until I see him prove otherwise on the mound, Brett Myers is out of the running. But let me be the first to make the case, right now, for the Phillies to sign him as a free agent closer this offseason. We'll need one.

The next most logical option would probably be to give either Pedro or JA Happ a shot, depending on which of them you choose for a 4-man playoff rotation. But of course, neither of them has the singular out pitch you want in a closer, and neither has closed any time even close to as recently as Myers' stint in 2007 and won't get much of an audition before a potential playoff matchup.

Which leaves, as far as I can tell, three options: closer by committee, which is essentially like forfeiting in the playoffs (just ask Grady Little); calling up a young, unknown arm in the mold of K-Rod with the 2002 Angels and David Price last year with the Rays, which is slightly more appealing but still obviously dicey and not remotely in line with the Phils' philosophy concerning their upper tier young pitchers; and turning to the most reliable arm in the Phillies' 2009 bullpen. I can't believe I'm saying it, but I think the Phillies need to take a cue from Pedro and let their Seoul glow. It's time for Chan Ho Park to get a couple weeks' audition in the closer's role.

To put it quite simply, Chan Ho has earned it: in 37 innings as a reliever in 2009, over 26 appearances, Park has posted a 2.68 ERA, a better than 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio (41 K vs. 8 BB) and held opposing hitters to a staggering .277 slugging pct. To put that in perspective, Carlos Ruiz is slugging nearly 100 points better than batters who have faced Chan Ho coming out of the pen this year. More importantly, over Lidge's last 37 innings, dating back to April 23, opponents are slugging .524 off of him. Which is actually a bit better than his season total. Given the demotion Chan Ho accepted with poise and class earlier this season (coughMoyer'sabitteroldmancough), it's only right that he gets the opportunity to replace someone who he is clearly outperforming. If only for the purposes of giving Lidge a couple of weeks to go figure out who left the lights on and how he can turn them back out, and giving themselves a better idea of what exactly their options are as the season winds down and, hopefully, they move on into October. Time isn't gonna get any better for experimenting as the end draws nearer.