Chan Ho Park's continued presence in the starting rotation is no mystery if one considers his manager's history of, well, player management. Charlie Manuel believes jobs are won through fair and open competition and, more importantly, held through thick and thin. There are no hidden agenda with Manuel. In Charlie's world, players don't lose their spots due to injury or a few bad outings. Benefits of the doubt are always given and second, third, even fourth chances are the rule.
Park's spot in the rotation is also consistent with the fact that the defending World Champs are a veteran team built to win now. Look at their roster and there are few youngsters to be found period. Furthermore, he was declared the winner in his Spring Training competition with a much younger J.A. Happ.
Ah, but Park has pitched poorly nearly every time out including last night when he gave up four quick runs to the Mets before many patrons were even in their seats. Park had nothing on his "fastball" and couldn't locate his breaking ball. Chris Wheeler opined that Park was "pitching away from bats", i.e., he was trying to avoid letting the Mets hit the ball and allow his defense to work for him. Tell that to Daniel Murphy, who stroked a two-run homer in the first inning on a pitch that could charitably have been described as right down Broadway with nothing on it. As Park labored through a succession of free passes interspersed with a home run here and line drive there, he also exhibited the kind of body language that his pitching coach Rich Dubee hates to see, a combination of the deer-in-the-headlights look and slumped shoulders and deep knee bends.
How much longer can his manager stick with Park? After the game Manuel said "I'm not ready to say Chan Ho Park is not going to get any more starts. I'm not ready to say that." Presumably he didn't poll the 43,000 plus in attendance at last night's game not to mention 23 of the 24 other members of the roster. Happ would recuse himself.
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