We'd like to thank Ed Stefanski for the momentary distraction from the epic fail that's been going on down at Citizen's Bank Park lately. It feels damn good to be talking about whether a team will achieve its potential rather than why another is not living up to theirs.
The tarp is on the field in South Philly, but the ridiculous storm that hit late this afternoon is expected to lift in time to get the game started shortly. When it does, J.A. Happ will get his third career start for the Phillies, looking to build on a decent outing Friday night against Johan and the Mets. Happ will face Mark Mulder of the Cardinals, who hasn't started in 10 months, and struggled mightily last season when he did.
Before his initial injury in 2006, Mulder was a lights-out starter with Oakland for most of his career. Proving once again that you don't usually want to acquire a player Billy Beane deemed expendable (cough, Harden), Mulder has only logged more than 30 starts once since he was an Athletic. Coming off of shoulder surgery, there is no certainty as to whether he will regain his form. In two bullpen appearances last week against the Mets, Mulder pitched a two-hit, scoreless inning in the first, and yielded two hits and two ER in a third of an inning in the second, blowing a save.
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Let's not have Mulder start another MLB feel-good story on our field tonight, Phils.