Halladay should have informed Phillies earlier about his shoulder

Roy Halladay felt that he could pitch through the pain so he didn't tell the Phillies he was hurting. His performance finally made him confess.

Halladay as most know by now, revealed after his second consecutive 14-2 loss that he is experiencing right shoulder discomfort. He said it began after his start on April 24 when Halladay allowed one run in six innings during a 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

"I had soreness after that game and wasn't able to get rid of it," Halladay said.

Then he went out and lost 14-2 on Tuesday at Cleveland before falling by the same score on Sunday against the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.

What is interesting is that the Phillies didn't know about his injury until after he left Sunday's game, having allowed nine earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.

Halladay should have learned from last year that any kind of discomfort should be disclosed. He was on the disabled from May 28 to July 16 with right latissimus dorsi strain – the muscle in the back of the shoulder.

Here were his two starts before the injury last year

May 22 – 6 IP, 9 H, 5 ER in a 5-2 loss to the Washington Nationals.

May 27 – 2 IP, 4 H, 4 ER in an 8-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

It's laudable that Halladay, who turns 36 on May 14, tries to pitch through pain, but he isn't helping the team out.

In a way, it is almost a relief that something is wrong with him, because nobody likes to see one of the greats of the game struggle so badly.

The Phillies hope he can return to form, but he also has to be honest with the team. While it's admirable to try to pitch through pain, he should let the doctors determine whether he is able to perform. And one can only hope that pitching these last two games didn't do any further damage to his shoulder.