Philly Front Office

The Phillies are playing the Toronto Blue Jays for the second time in two weeks starting today and because I have at least some (hmmm, not journalistic…oh, I got it) writer-guy integrity, I needed to find something new and Toronto related to write about. BEHOLD, the top 5 Roy Halladay Seasons!

Check out Roy Halladay’s Baseball Reference Page

Friday, June 13 at 6:45p – Ranger Suarez v. Kevin Gausman (R)
Saturday, June 14 at 4:05p – Cristopher Sanchez v. Bowden Francis (R)
Sunday, June 15 at 1:35p – Zack Wheeler v. Jose Berrios (R)

Blue Jays at Phillies

Let’s start with a cop out, the seasons NOT on the list. These 4 seasons are unfathomable for almost anyone who has ever thrown a baseball in their life, but they do not break into the top-5 for Roy Halladay. Again, these are NOT on the list:

• 2005: This was on its way to being Halladay’s BEST season, which is saying something. Unfortunately, he got hurt and had to shut things down for good in July. Still, in just 19 starts, he racked up 5.5 WAR, threw 5 CGs with 2 shutouts, and 141 innings. His ERA was 2.41, WHIP was under 1, and his ERA+ was 185! Halladay would have cruised to a Cy Young considering only Johan Santana had a higher WAR than him with 90 more innings. Jesus!
• 2006: 5.3 WAR over a full season is fine and all, good enough for a 3rd place Cy Young finish, but only the 8th best for Halladay. His 3.19 ERA was actually better than his 2003 Cy Young Season. Not even close to cracking the Top 5.
• 2007: Was 2007 a bad year? His 3.71 ERA was his worst over a full season and he only racked up 3.5 WAR. Still 225 innings and 7 CGs later, Halladay finished 5th in Cy Young voting. This was probably his worst full season, here for illustration purposes.
• 2009: His last in Toronto, this was borderline just as good as his Cy Young runner up 2008 season. 6.9 WAR, 2.79 ERA, 239 innings pitched, 9 CGs, and 4 shutouts. Zack Greinke put up historic numbers that season to win the Cy Young, but Halladay was firmly entrenched as the best pitcher in baseball at this point.

How do you remember December 15, 2009?

5. 2008 – 6.2 WAR, 2.78 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 20 wins, 246 innings and a runner up Cy Young finish. Wait, runner up??? This was the Cliff Lee breakout year and he was a deserving winner. If anything, this breakout made it possible for Halladay to NOT become a Phillie in 2009. The story goes that Halladay thought it was a done deal and the Phillies thought it was a done deal at the 2009 deadline. In the end, the Blue Jays wanted a little more and Cleveland wanted a little less. This was somehow a middle of the road elite season from Halladay.

4. 2002 – In looking back on these years, it isn’t often that Halladay is straight up robbed of winning a Cy Young. If he doesn’t win, someone else deserves it. 2002 though was a mockery of the process. Halladay led the AL in WAR with 7.3, had 19 wins, a 2.93 ERA, pitched 239 innings, and had a 157 ERA+. He didn’t get a vote. Pedro Martinez despite his 202 ERA+ and league leading ERA (2.26), WHIP (.923), and strikeouts (239) finished second to Barry Zito. Zito was great that year but all of his numbers are behind Doc and Pedro.

3. 2003 – This was the coming out party for Roy Halladay. At 26, he led the league in WAR (8.1), Wins (22), CGs (9), and innings (266!). His 204 strikeouts to 32 walks also led the league and was his second best in his career. He finished an overwhelming 1st in Cy Young voting. Pedro Martinez has a bit of a gripe about this considering his 202ERA+ dwarfed Halladay’s 147, but Doc pitched 80 more innings. (PS, can’t wait to have the Red Sox to write about Pedro and Teddy Ballgame)

Toronto Blue Jays Since October 23, 1993

2. 2011 – The last great Halladay season may have been his best. 8.8 WAR, 2.35 ERA, and 2.20 FIP were the best of his career. He led the league with 8 CGs, and  167 ERA+. No season has ever been more of a treat to watch pitching with Halladay and Cliff Lee seemingly topping each other with each start and Cole Hamels keeping right behind. For some reason, Cy Young voters gave the award to Clayton Kershaw. The 3 of them put up nearly identical, ridiculous numbers but  Kershaw won in a landslide. I’ll never forgive them.

1. 2010 – Statistically 2011 may have been even better, but come on, it was always going to be 2010. Not only was it his first in red pinstripes, but Halladay threw a perfect game in his 11th start as a Phillie. That was nice and all, but all season the narrative was Roy Halladay would finally pitch in the playoffs. Pitch he did. In his first ever postseason start, Halladay no-hit the Reds. The second ever post season no-hitter. We didn’t win the World Series, so this capped an absolutely incredible first season in Philadelphia and the best of Halladay’s career.

Oh right, the stats! Halladay led the league in WAR (8.5), Wins (21), CGs (9), Shutouts (4), and innings pitched (250). He was an absolute machine all season, his ERA would never be higher than 2.53 and finished at 2.44 after a complete game shutout to punctuate the season. His ERA+ of 167 was his career best over a full season. Lastly, he won his 2nd career Cy Young award in unanimous fashion, receiving all 32 votes.

In the end, Halladay won 2 Cy Young awards, threw 2 No-Hitters, was a first ballot Hall of Famer, and went to a zoo with a fan. He will forever be missed by Toronto, Philadelphia, and anyone who loves baseball.