Tuesday, May 11th

Phillies vs. Rockies

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: First doubleheader of the season. (I hate when Phils games are rained out on my off nights from work. Thankfully, I was still able to watch some good baseball. Mets-Nats game was a blast, as was the A’s-Rangers… OK, sorry for the tangent).

Game 1 is scheduled for 3:10 p.m. with Roy Halladay (6-1, 1.45) toeing the slab against Aaron Cook (1-3, 6.03). This is a homecoming for Doc. He grew up in Colorado, but has never pitched in Coors.

Game 2 will feature Jamie Moyer (4-2, 4.38) coming off his best start in years, a two-hit shutout of the Braves.  The Rockies counter with Jason Hammel (0-2, 9.16), who, if I can remember correctly, pitched pretty darn well his last time out against the Phils. It will be the struggling Hammel’s first start since April 26.

NL East Update

The Phillies (20-12) are 2.5 games in front of the second-place Mets (18-15) and Nationals (18-15). The Mets rallied from a 6-1 deficit to beat the Nats last night, 8-6.

Fun Phact: On this date in 1947, a crowd of 41,660 — the largest in baseball history at the time — came out to Shibe Park to watch the Phillies sweep a doubleheader against Brooklyn.

Monday, April 26th

Giants 5, Phillies 1

The Phillies left a Titanic passenger’s list-size of men on base and Roy Halladay was by and large not Roy Halladay-like in a Game 1 loss to San Francisco.

Since starting 8-1, the Phils are 3-7, including 3-4 on their current nine-game road trip.

Halladay suffered his first loss in red pinstripes, allowing five runs over seven innings. Jonathan Sanchez wasn’t sharp, either, but the offensive woes continued for the Phils, who mustered a grand total of four hits, three of which came off the bat of Shane Victorino.

The series continues tonight when Jamie Moyer (2-1, 5.00) opposes Todd Wellemeyer (0-3, 8.16).

Phillies 2, Braves 0

Wednesday, April 21st

Roy Halladay is to awesome as this Golden Lab puppy is to cute......... What? Too soft for a sports blog?

Give the Cy Young Award to Roy Halladay right now.

Halladay pitched his second complete game, got his fourth win and lowered his minscule ERA to 0.82.

This guy is a hell of a lot of fun to watch. The way he uses all five or six of his pitches… it’s absolutely impossible to sit on something if you’re the hitter.

Halladay had some fun battles with Jason Heyward, who I’m convinced is some kind of man beast.

The key play of the game, obviously, was the double play turned by Chase Utley with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. With one out, Yunel Escober hit a hot shot up the middle, which was stabbed by Utley, who flipped to Juan Castro for the start of a 4-6-3 twin-killing.

Halladay also benefited from a home run taken away by Shane Victorino in the second.

Jayson Werth hit an RBI triple. Werth, Utley and Ryan Howard are all batting well over .300.

While the runs haven’t been coming in bunches lately, the pitching has been solid. Throw away Jamie Moyer’s five-run inning against Florida last Friday and Ryan Madson’s disaster in the ninth Tuesday.

The bad news coming out of the game was Placido Polanco, who with a bruised left elbow after getting his by a pitch.

He could miss Thursday’s series finale.

Phillies vs. Nationals

7:05 PM EST at Citizens Bank Park

The Fish's Jorge Cantu has a 10-game RBI and hitting streak entering Friday's series opener.

Roy Halladay makes his highly anticipated Citizens Bank Park debut tonight in Game 1 of a three-game weekend series against the Marlins.

Quite frankly, Halladay (2-0, 0.56 ERA) has been the Phillies’ only consistent starting pitcher. He’s the only starter to have pitched into the seventh inning.

After a tough loss in which the bullpen blew a three-run lead against the Nationals, Halladay’s start is a welcome sight. The Marlins are coming off a series win against the Reds.

Halladay will oppose Anibal Sanchez, who allowed four earned runs and seven hits over six innings in his season debut.

The Marlins and Phillies split their season series last year, 9-9.

Phillies 2, Astros 1

Sunday, April 11th

All killer, no filler

Roy Halladay carved up the Astros, earning career win No. 150 and complete game No. 50 on getaway day in Houston.

Halladay scattered seven hits, struck out eight, walked none and allowed one unearned run. He was masterful.

On a day when the bats weren’t clicking — Roy Oswalt pitched very well in defeat — Halladay did what all good aces are paid to do.  Halladay got into trouble in the sixth inning, loading the bases with no outs, but forced Cory Sullivan to ground into a rally-killing double play before getting Carlos Lee to pop up to Jimmy Rollins.

Rollins hit his 34th career leadoff homer and Carlos Ruiz knocked in Raul Ibanez with a fielder’s choice in the second inning to make it 2-0.

The Phils produced only six hits, the first time this season they failed to reach 10 or more knocks.

In two games, Halladay is 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA. Stunning.

The Phils’ 5-1 record is their best start since 1993 (8-1).

In an ESPN Insider article from Buster Olney, he “emailed a bunch of talent evaluators — some general managers, some scouts, some executives — and asked them what they think Halladay’s numbers will be in the NL.”

I figured I would pass along the information. Frankly I think their all a little conservative. Nobody wants to step out of the box of the 20 win/2 - 3 ERA range. Doesn’t anyone think he’s going dominate? Get shelled or injury plagued? This is Philadelphia people, sports drama is inevitable.

Again, this information is straight from ESPN.

Evaluator No. 1: “I would set the over/under on his ERA at 2.50. I’m not comfortable predicting wins because it’s based on too many things he can’t control. If forced to guess, I’ll go with 18.”

Evaluator No. 2: “Twenty wins, 3.00 ERA. He is going from a pitchers’ park to a home run park, but is a ground ball guy. He will be in the Cy Young Top 3.”

Evaluator No. 3: “I’d project a 2.10 ERA with 22 wins.”

Evaluator No. 4: “While I think Halladay’s move to the NL will allow him to perform at a higher level for a longer period of time than if he stayed within the AL East, the advantage of pitching in the NL might begin to be counterbalanced somewhat by the fact that he’s getting older and will inevitably begin to slow down at some point. After all, he is going to turn 33, and though we may not see much of a change statistically this coming season, I also don’t think he’s going to throw up a sub-2.00 ERA while throwing 280 innings either. Something in the 2.50 ERA range with comparable innings pitched as the last couple of seasons seems reasonable for 2010. I can see him winning 21-22 games.”

Evaluator No. 5: “Twenty-three wins with around a 2.00 ERA.”

Evaluator No. 6: “Twenty wins, sub-2.50 ERA. He gets to pitch to No. 8 and No. 9 hitters nearly 20 percent of the time.”

Evaluator No. 7: “Twenty-plus wins, sub-3.00 ERA. He will win the Cy Young Award.”

Evaluator No. 8: “I am thinking 18 wins with an ERA of 3.00-3.20.”

Evaluator No. 9: “Eighteen wins, five losses, an ERA of 2.90.”

——

Too high? Too low? You tell me.

Roy Halladay takes the hill Thursday in the first spring training game against the Yankees.

Halladay will oppose — you guessed it — CC Sabathia.

The game will air live at 1 p.m. locally on Comcast SportsNet and 7 p.m. on MLB Network.

Kyle Kendrick is also slated to pitch.

• The Phillies hitters faced live pitching for the spring time this spring. Who they were facing, you ask? Oh, only Roy Halladay.

Halladay, according to some reports Thursday, was overpowering.

• Jamie Moyer, rehabbing from a pair of surgeries, looked like his old self (pun intended) Wednesday in practice. He’s progressed well and is competing for the fifth starter’s spot.
• Brad Lidge has been limited in practice. He was scheduled to throw a side session Thursday.
• Top prospect Domonic Brown recently had the flu, but returned to camp Wednesday. Brown is expected to start the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Jimmy Rollins is at it again.

The chatty shortstop tends to make bold statements at this time of year. This season is no different.

Rollins said Roy Halladay is the best in baseball, “… as far as pitching is concerned. Everyone knows he can’t hit.”

Rollins’ comments come a few days after Johan Santana declared himself the best pitcher in the NL East.

Roy Halladay is making a strong first impression in Clearwater.

The new ace of the reigning two-time NL champions has a resume to die for. Over the course of the previous decade, Halladay has dominated arguably baseball’s toughest division — the AL East.

Sure, he’s never appeared in a postseason game, but when you’re facing the Red Sox and Yankees 5-10 times per year, it’s safe to say Halladay has pitched in many big games.

The Cy Young Award and ridiculous stats stack up. But what’s most impressive, according to his new teammates, is Halladay’s killer work ethic.

“Hardest-working guy I’ve seen, by far,” pitcher Kyle Kendrick told ESPN.com.

Halladay routinely comes to the ballpark at or around 5:30 a.m., quite a long time before any of his teammates arrive. Kendrick and others have been following him around, trying to mimic those same habits.

You can talk about Halladay’s numbers and the impact he’ll have against NL hitters. But it’s those intangibles, like his work ethic, that will rub off on some of the young pitchers.

Halladay’s presence, alone, should make the pitching staff a little bit better.