Save Harden

I actually feel sorry for Rich Harden.  Some guys just have it bad.  Rick Ankiel would probably hold the crown in my book if he hadn’t made it back as an outfielder, but name me one other pitcher who has had worst luck than Harden.  Such a figure simply does not exist.  It’s gotten to a point where he has become baseball’s version of a Shakespearean Tragedy. 

Scouts s used to droll over this guy, and why not?  He’s one of those guys that could have gotten through his career based on the merit of his first impression.  You know, sort of like how Andruw Jones, Felix Hernandez, and JD Drew have.  Ever since he broke into the league in 2003 as a 21-year-old, immediately posting a 3-0 record with a 1.33 ERA in his four starts, he’s been clamored about as if he was the most talented pitcher in baseball.

Everyone was convinced that he was going to be the next great righty, win various Cy Young awards, and become the face of the Athletics pitching staff that featured Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito at the time.

Then the injuries happened.

His latest shoulder strain makes it the sixth time in less than four years that he has been on the DL.  He’s not quite at Carl Pavano-status, but please believe that he could seriously contend for the title in the future, except he’s talented enough to collect more than the $10 million per season that Pavano receives from the Yankees for his workman’s compensation. 

Or not maybe not.

It seems that people have forgotten how good this pitcher is.  Go take a look at his numbers through his first two starts this season:  11IP, .082 ERA, 15 SO, 7 BB.   He’s as solid as they come on any given night.  The problem is, we haven’t really seen him since his sophomore effort.  So is he really that good?  Or has he just benefitted from never making more than 12 starts in a row since 2004?  His success could be heavily contingent on a complete lack of underexposure.  Anyone can show up twice a year and completely dominate when no one knows what to expect.  Just ask Johnny Cueto.

He may never win a Cy Young award, or pitch 30 games in a season, but don’t mistake his talent, even if it only shows up twice a year.  It is possible, and to a degree it probably helps, but not enough to make a difference, he has the track record to certify his talent.  Unfortunately, he’s likely to go down as one of the game’s great mysteries, along with Kerry Wood and Mark Prior; guys with Hall-of-Fame talent that couldn’t catch a break.   

At this point I’d be surprised if Harden ever lasted more than 150 innings in a season.  In fact, he’s only done it once, his second year in the majors when he went 182.  So forget 150, what about 200?  I don’t think this pitcher was ever abusedby his managers as Prior and Wood were by Dusty Baker.  There’s nothing you can pinpoint and say this is why it’s happened.  He takes care of his body, and unlike Pavano, he wants nothing more than to pitch every fifth day.His body just won’t allow him to do it.

The A’s are already shopping Harden around, so chances are he’s going to be off the West Coast sometime soon, whether it be through a trade or free agency, but at some point someone has to realize that he can’t keep going on like this.  It’s not fair to him, his teammates, the fans, no one. 

So, I have to ask, why hasn’t anyone moved him to the bullpen?  This has been said several times before, but it’s never been more apparent than now.  It seems like the next logical step, right?  I know that he’s invaluable as a starter, but it’s clear that he will never cut it there.  As a closer he could be the next Dennis Eckersly, Mariano Rivera.  He has the stuff:  100 mph fastball, devastating change-up, a filthy slider, and most important of all, the thing all great closers need,  a signature pitch, ‘the spluckler’.  It’s a split finger pitch that Adam Melhuse donned the spluckler because it starts to knuckle as it gets to the plate. 

Billy Beane is staunchly against this idea, and is of the school of thought that pitcher is far more valuable dominating a team for six or seven innings twice a week.  There’s no objection to this school of thought here.  It’d be ludicrous to move someone like, say, Jake Peavy to the bullpen, even a Brian Bannister, for that matter, but we aren’t talking about traditional circumstances here. 

“I like having the ball in my hands as much as possible,” Harden explains. “But at some point, you probably have to try something different. I’d rather pitch out of the bullpen than be on the DL, put it that way.”  

At some point something has to be done.  Obviously he can’t handle the wear and tear of taking the ball every fifth day.  He’s tried.  For four years.  At least as a closer, or as Street’s set-up man for the interim,  he’d have a better chance of staying healthy, and he’d finally get the recognition he deserves as one of the elite pitchers of this generation. 

Right?