Don't be surprised if Halladay winds up winning the Cy Young

I've been flip flopping left and right on the NL Cy Young award ever since it became clear in April that there were going to be a LOT of contenders.

For most of the year it looked like Ubaldo Jimenez's to lose.

Then Josh Johnson looked like the front runner and more recently I've been leaning towards Adam Wainwright.

But when the dust settles, and if the Phillies continue their huge comeback, it could very well be Roy Halladays. And yesterday's performance convinces me he might be the guy.

"BUT WAIT!" Say all the stats people. "He let up 5 runs today! He didn't have his best stuff yesterday! Yesterday was a subpar performance!"

Yes, I know that... and he still pitched well enough to win, take pressure off of the bullpen and keep the Phillies winning ways alive, taking the series from the Mets.

While a lot of stats people think baseball is played in a vacuum and things like "run support" and "winning the game" are irrelevant, I think it shows something from your ace when they don't have their best stuff and can hold on to win anyway.

I know that makes me irrelevant, but I have a feeling the team was grateful and the bullpen was happy.

Yeah, his run total was high, but he gave them 7 innings, struck out 10 and walked 1. (Isn't strike outs to walks a coveted stat?)

His WHIP is 4th in the NL.

For those who value wins (remember, the point of the game?) he has the third highest total behind Jimenez and Wainwright.

For those who like strikeouts, he has the most in the NL.

Nobody has pitched more innings in all of baseball (he should pass 200 innings before Labor Day.)

Nobody has completed more games or thrown more shutouts in all of baseball.

And oh yeah... since they hit rock bottom and were on the verge of being a .500 team in late July... he's gone 4-0, averaging more than 7 2/3 a start and a 2.03 ERA (and that includes the 5 runs today). He's also striking out better than 1 an inning. And he's winning games the Phillies NEED as they will probably make up a 7 game deficit and in all likely hood he'll be the ace of the Division Champion.

Not that those sort of things matter any more.

Could this be the most intriguing Cy Young race ever?

Every time I think someone has taken control of the race and made it their own... another stud makes themselves heard.

Just yesterday I was all but declaring Adam Wainwright the winner... but today Roy Halladay declared "NOT SO FAST!"

He won his 15th game and threw 8 shutout innings (and walked NOBODY).

He leads the league in strikeouts, innings pitched and complete games. And today's game was a must win to stop the bleeding doozy.

So it could be Halladay... but Jimenez pitches tomorrow, as does Lincecum in a critical inter division game.

We've had tight years for Cy Young voting before, but most of the time it was either because there was NO dominant candidate or it was down to two solid pitchers (like Maddux and Glavine in 1992.)

But this year, between Jimenez, Wainwright, Halladay, Johnson and maybe even Tim Hudson and Lincecum there are more aces than we can measure.

It comes down to the last month and a half.

They have my attention.

Adam Wainwright just couldn't make this easy, could he?

Adam Wainwright went into tonight's game as the only starting pitcher with qualifying innings to have a sub 2.00 ERA. He was tied with the league lead in wins with 17 and had the lowest WHIP and the second lowest bating average against.

And he did all of that with the fourth highest innings count in the National League.

Well after tonight, he has the second highest win total and still leads the league in all the above categories. And he pitched well... well enough to win 9 out of 10 games.

But his ERA crept above 2 and his win total is stagnant. And Halladay, Jimenez and yes Tim Hudson are still hanging around.

Oh yeah, Josh Johnson won again.

This isn't ending any time soon.

Phillies fans... don't nag your team about Cliff Lee

Have you ever screwed up badly and tried to make up for it?
It might be with your spouse, or significant other or family…

I’m not talking about something huge like adultery or tax evasion.
I’m talking about a judgment call.

A bad investment, inviting the wrong person over, turning down a job that turned into a big windfall, buying the wrong kind of car… something that they could throw a few “I told you so”s at you.

At the exact moment that you knew you screwed up, don’t you tend to overcompensate? Don’t you tend to try to patch things up as quickly as possible?

And while you are fixing the problem if you get a “I don’t know why you just didn’t do what I told you to do before” flung at you, doesn’t it REALLY suck?

When you hear “Why didn’t you do what I told you to do?” don’t you just want to scream “I KNOW! I’M SORRY! I’M FIXING IT! GET OFF MY BACK!”

That’s what the Phillies are doing right now.

They traded for Roy Halladay in the off season. But instead of just trading prospects for Halladay, they decided to replenish their farm system in the process and deal Cliff Lee to get prospects BACK.

And everyone, including yours truly, said “Why didn’t you keep Lee and have the best 1-2 punch in baseball?”

With a shaky bullpen, they could have 2 aces who could throw 9 consistently and give the relievers a rest.

Yet the Phillies tried it out… and Halladay has been solid but Cliff Lee has dominated in both a Mariners and a Rangers uniform. And while the Phillies struggled it was clear they needed a #2 starter.

And oh yeah, the prospects they got for Lee have been stiffs so far.

And even though the Phillies seem to have righted their ship, they went out and traded for Roy Oswalt.

And it cost them prospects (including J. A. Happ) which is what they wanted to save when dealing Cliff Lee.

And Oswalt’s contract is going on for two more years while Cliff Lee’s expires after this year and the Phillies could have let him go and picked up 2 first round picks… which could have helped replenish the farm system.

It’s a solid move for the Phillies, yet virtually everyone is bringing up the Cliff Lee move when talking about the Oswalt trade.

They now have a great 1-2 punch, yet everyone is claiming they told the Phillies so.

The Phillies know!
They are sorry!
They are fixing it!
Get off of their backs!

Is the pitching getting better or is it just me?

2010 has already had some extraordinarily special pitching moments and we're not even in mid June.

Either the steroid era is really over or the pitchers are on something.
And it's great for baseball in my opinion.

We have had Ubaldo Jimenez throwing a no hitter and putting up numbers that would be eye popping in a pitchers park let alone the zero G of Coors Field.

We have had Dallas Braden throwing a perfect game on Mother's Day (and seeing his grandmother trash talk A-Rod to boot!)

We had Roy Halladay throwing a perfect game in Miami.

We had the Armando Galarraga spoiled perfect game.

We had Daisuke Matsuzaka nearly throw a no hitter.

We had Stephen Strasburg's mind boggling debut.

We had ancient Jamie Moyer throwing a shutout.

We've seen Tim Lincecum, Jon Lester, Adam Wainwright, Clay Buchholz, Matt Cain and Josh Johnson all throw like aces.

We've seen Jaime Garcia, Mike Pelfrey, David Price, Phil Hughes, Mitch Talbot, Mike Leake and Mat Latos all blossom into top starters.

We've seen comeback seasons from Tim Hudson, Ervin Santana, Livan Hernandez and Carlos Silva.

There's a surplus of Cy Young contenders and well pitched games with intriguing match ups are becoming more and more common.

Just today you have Toronto's Shaun Marcum going up against Tampa Bay's David Price and St. Louis' Adam Wainwright is going up against L.A.'s Clayton Kershaw.

Not to mention Dallas Braden, Jonathan Sanchez, CC Sabathia and Clay Buccholz are all taking the hill as well.

Look, I know the home run is sexy and there is a sense that most fans just want to see a slugfest... but I don't believe that.

I think that if you get a dominating pitcher facing a kick ass hitter, it makes for a confrontation unlike any in sport.

How exciting is a home run into the upper deck when the pitcher is a scrub just up from AAA, or a middle reliever who barely has a job, or Kyle Farnsworth?

Maybe this IS the end of the steroid era for hitters... the slugger happy AL hasn't seen a 40 home run hitter since A-Rod's 54 taters in 2007.

And perhaps when someone says "they are a 30 home run hitter" or "they are good for 95-100 RBI" it won't sound like they are describing a platoon reserve shortstop.

Maybe we can expect some real dominating pitching. Maybe all the nonsense that we'll never see another 300 game winner can end.

Maybe games will move quicker. Maybe runs will be at a premium and when a team falls behind by a few runs, it will make the game more tense instead of having everyone think "Ah don't worry... this will be a 9-8 game by the end."

It's as if they are playing BASEBALL and not just playing home run derby!

What a novel concept!