We had a chance to talk with David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News (and his High Cheese blog) for a little Phillies off-season preview Q&A, as they head to the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis next week. Part one here. Part two below:

Q: Does the World Series leave a bad taste in Phillies’ mouths?
A: After game four, there was a pretty good sense that everyone understood the Yankees were the better team in that series. The Phillies had a few moments they might regret, like not covering third, or maybe leaving Pedro in too long in game six, but the Yankees did not win because of a fluke. I think the Phillies realized that and it drove home how good the Yankees were. I think the Phillies were better than they were last year.

Q: JA Happ, is he a lock for the 2010 rotation?
A: Everyone I’ve talked to says he is. I don’t see how he can’t be. By the end of the World Series I think they might have second-guessed themselves on how they used Happ. Maybe Happ was out of gas, didn’t watch up well against those teams in the playoffs, but it probably would have been better to have him start instead of Pedro.

Q: Were you surprised at how well he pitched this year?
A: I wasn’t. I’ve always been a big fan. I was shocked when they made Chan Ho Park a starter after spring training…I do think the decision not to let him start in the playoffs disappointed Happ more than he let anyone know; he was in such a great groove…A lot of statisticians will say he had a fluky year (BABIP [batting average on balls in play] and RISP [runners in scoring position] were low), he had good luck…I would disagree with that. I think he brings a lot to the table, such as a deceptive delivery like Sid Fernandez.

Q: How do they view the outfielders at the top of their system?
A: People in the organization we talk to like Domonic Brown. They view him as a future star, a Carl Crawford type impact guy. Michael Taylor, I never get the sense they view him as a 30-100 guy, and there’s not an overwhelming anticipation of him getting to the big leagues. Whereas Brown is “can’t miss,” for lack of a better term, Taylor is more in the Ryan Howard mold, where he was putting up great numbers but they’re still unsure. Howard left little doubt once he arrived but I don’t get the sense that they’re willing to let Werth go because they have Taylor waiting.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 1:36 pm and is filed under Past BlueClaws, Phillies, Q&As. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.