Lee: Halladay the ace of the aces
SARASOTA, Fla. -- They may have more than one ace in the Phillies starting rotation this season, but the consensus is that the ace of the aces is unquestionably Roy Halladay.
Lee: Halladay the ace of the aces
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
SARASOTA, Fla. -- They may have more than one ace in the Phillies starting rotation this season, but the consensus is that the ace of the aces is unquestionably Roy Halladay.
"I'd like to hear somebody argue someone else," lefthander Cliff Lee said after pitching three innings against Baltimore at Ed Smith Stadium. "There is no other argument that makes sense."
Lee, in fact, would argue that Halladay is by far the best in baseball.
"He's the best and he proves it every time he goes out there," Lee said. "He has been for a while, the last four or five years -- six years and probably longer."
Lee spent part of last season pitching with Felix Hernandez, who won the American League Cy Young Award, but he doesn't believe his former Seattle teammate is in the same class as Halladay.
"Felix had a good two or three years, but Halladay has been doing it the last eight or nine years," Lee said. "I'll take the guy who has been doing it longer. Felix is unbelievable. Stuff-wise he has the best stuff I've ever seen, but Halladay has really good stuff and he's able to put it all together and read hitters. Not that Felix can't do that, but Roy has been doing it a little longer and he's smarter with it."
Lee also revealed that he joined the other four Phillies starters in a golf outing with former Atlanta star John Smoltz.
"We played our best ball against Smoltz," Lee said. "He beat us on the last hole. I think he cheated. He's really good. I never proclaimed to be good at all, so it wasn't up to me."
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Watched Doc pitch in Clearwater Thursday. 6 innings no runs. No hitter for 3 or so. Versus the Yankees. I still am predicting a crazy 108 wins.- Cole is driven by more than money. Look at his turnaround last year. Despite no run support, he continued to pitch gem after gem. It's going to be fun watching them try to one-up one another (in a good way). Chooch must be in heaven.
Also agree with eman, the offense doesn't scare most teams anymore. I mean, that's ok with the pitching we have (and I think Lidge will be ok) but how recently did we have 4 guys who hit 30 or more homers, plus speed in Shane and Jimmy on the bases? Seems like a long time ago but I think it was 2009. things change fast in sports anymore. Another season of 1-0 games? As Moe Howard once moaned, "My noives, my noives!"— Eephus - Can't wait for the season to start. Been looking forward to it since December, and tht usually when all I care about is the Eagles.— FranMc73
- OF COURSE HAMELS WILL DO GOOD, ITS A CONTRACT YEAR. UGH, WHEN YOU PAY A PITCHER $124 MILLION OVER 4 YEARS, HE IS 100% THAT TEAMS NUMBER 1 OR 2 STARTER!— schacher1979
- I'm guessing Charlie will go Doc-Lee-Oswalt-Hamels-Blanton but I'd be tempted to go Doc-Hamels-Lee-Oswalt-Blanton. I agree that Lidge is a concern and hope Charlie has the stones to start the season with Madson closing, rather than let Lidge lose games in April for us. At this point, they're both in contract years: I choose Madson. As for the season, and I was pilloried earlier today during the live game chat, I'm really worried about our offense against top pitching this season when we have Polanco, with all of 6 home runs, batting third and 39-year-old Ibanez on an unproven like Francisco or Mayberry hitting fifth. Don't get me wrong, I actually like Polanco and Ibanez. But we need more pop in the middle of our lineup than they can reliably bring. If Utley is out more than a month or so, we really need a bat. I don't care how badly we rake AA pitchers in mid-March.
— eman - Would've loved to caddy that round of golf----------I second that--When Smoltz came to Philly he almost always-played at least once- Pine Valley-those type of courses.Not Walnut lane.
— HO HUM - I'm really liking where Hamels is. I'm not going to anoint him second best yet but I have a feeling he'll prove it this year. I believe getting Halladay made Cole a better pitcher.— s
Comment removed.- The Phils 2nd best starter is Cole Hamels— farley
- I agree s, Doc always has that look of focus and intensity, even in spring training...It took him all game to crack a smile at his perfect game!— phigglesfan75
- Would've loved to caddy that round of golf
- Just win— shawnmac
- Whenever I see Doc pitch he just has this look of being a notch above everyone else. The guy is a pure stud on the mound. And he's humble because he had to work at it early on. It's his head as much as his pitching ability that make him the best pitcher in baseball. Philly loves you Doc.— s
- relax skip. Lidge is working on stuff he probably won't use. spring training is so overrated— pbuscio
- Halladay is my daddy.— jayflyte
These 4 guys better be good... and every dude back in the pen because Lidge is having a horrible spring. They'll need a 3 run cushion every time he goes out there.- Actually doesn't the pitcher have the advantage against batters that have never seen him before? He's a great pitcher,I'm just sayin— th
- Hmmmmm...lemmee see here: Doc, who has spent his ENTIRE Major League life in the Junior circuit, comes to the Fightins last year. For the whole year, he has to face National League hitters he has never pitched against. All he does is win 20+ games, pitch a Perfect Game in the regular season, juuuuust miss ANOTHER perfecto in the playoffs, having to settle for just a plain 'ol No Hitter. Did I miss anything?...Oh yeah, we didn't score too many runs for him, and IN FACT, he lost a couple he shoulda freaking WON. Cy Young award anyone? How could ANYBODY be foolish enough to NOT think he IS the very best??? Oh LORD, I can't wait for the season to start!!!— TBear
