Roy Halladay was rocked in his most recent start. The Cleveland Indians made ‘Doc’ look like he was 23 (when he had a 10.64 ERA), instead of nearly 36 (as of May 14). Yes, the former Philadelphia Phillies‘ ace delivered another horrid outing.
At this point, his Jeckyll and Hyde act is downright scary, with subsequent sequels seemingly unavoidable. It would seem to be naive to think that solid performances, mid-range efforts and terrible showings won’t all be seen through the end of this season.
In a mid-March feature I compared Halladay to Phillies’ legend and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton circa the mid-80s. Obviously that comparison was intended to touch the nerves of longtime fans. Raising sacred names always does.
Halladay has struck out 31 batters in 32 innings, which makes it appear as though his arm is still sound. Carlton struck out 120 batters in 176.33 innings during the 1986 season. That was the year the Phillies’ released him in late June and he went on to pitch for the San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox.
A guaranteed $20 million contract should prevent Halladay from receiving a pink pinstriped slip from Ruben Amaro, Jr. this year.
The point of analysis isn’t to hope that someone (in this case, Halladay) succeeds, or fails. My belief since spring training is that Halladay has entered into a period of irreversible decline, just like ‘Lefty’ did more than a quarter-century ago.
Aficionados of the game find themselves rooting for favored athletes, while also attempting to logically accept that these men are human beings. Mere mortals reach the point of no return at various points in their lives whether we recognize it, or not.
Carlton was older and pitched far more innings than Halladay has when his own descent commenced. But, we must keep in mind that the baseball eras each man pitched through were different. Today’s starting pitchers have thrown far less pitches than any diamond alumni from yesteryear. The stringent influence of massive contracts, development of specialized middle relief and other factors have combined to create modern reality.
Moving into May and onto September, it’s reasonable to believe that Halladay will maintain his erratic status.
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