Week Eight: Roy Halladay and Ken Howell

The week was going rather well for the Phillies.  After taking the first three games against the defending World Series champions, they had Roy Halladay set to face the Cardinals in the series finale on Sunday.

In the past couple of seasons, sending Halladay out to complete a sweep was about as sure a thing as there was in baseball.

But instead of ending the week with a happy feeling, Phillies fans were left with a feeling of despair.  The Phillies lost the game thanks in part to a first inning grand slam surrendered by Halladay.  But the truly bad part was that Halladay left the game in the second inning due to shoulder soreness.

 

Featured Phillie of the Week: Roy Halladay

There were rumors during Spring Training that there might have been something wrong with Halladay.  He was struggling a bit in the exhibition games, and his velocity was decreased slightly from last season.

Halladay and the Phillies both maintained that he was fine, and when he pitched eight shutout innings on Opening Day, all of the concerns seemed unfounded.  He continued to pitch well throughout April.  He suffered some losses, but those were due more to lack of support rather than any great failing on Halladay's part.

But since the beginning of May, Halladay has not looked quite the same.  In his start on May 2nd against the Braves, he blew a six-run lead, an event that most Phillies fans would have thought was impossible.

Over his next several starts, something seemed a bit off.  Halladay certainly wasn't pitching poorly, and given a little bit more run support, he probably would have won most of the games.  But this also wasn't the dominating Roy Halladay that Phillies fans had come to expect.

Phillies fans don't expect Roy Halladay to need a lot of run support.  If the team can only score two runs behind him, then he only gives up one.  That's how it has worked for most of his Phillies tenure.

When he faced the Nationals and gave up five runs in six innings, the level of concern rose.  The velocity on Halladay's pitches was still down from previous seasons.  Could Halladay be suffering from an undisclosed injury?

When he had to leave Sunday's game after two innings, Halladay confirmed that there were indeed physical issues behind his (relatively) poor performance.  Apparently he has been suffering from a sore shoulder.  It isn't clear how long that his shoulder has been bothering him, or how much it has affected him.

What is clear is that if Halladay is going to miss much time, or if the injury will prevent him from pitching like the Roy Halladay of the past two seasons, then the Phillies may be in trouble.

 

Ghost of Phillies Past: Ken Howell

In the 1989 season, the Phillies took a chance on quite a few reclamation projects, such as their Opening Day starter Floyd Youmans.  While Youmans might have been a failure, they had much better luck with another starting pitcher.

Ken Howell had been a decent prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the mid-80s.  He had talent, but his mental approach wasn't where it needed to be.  When faced with adversity, he reacted by just trying to throw the ball past hitters. 

When an arm injury forced him back to the minors, Howell used the time to actually learn how to pitch.  His improved mental approach paid dividends for the 1989 Phillies.

Howell became the leader of the Phillies pitching staff, winning 12 games with a 3.44 ERA.  His success continued into the early part of the 1990 season, when his progress was halted by injury issues.

Unfortunately, the injuries never went away.  It felt like every season, the Phillies would be counting on Howell to come back and lead the staff, only to have him hit a snag in his rehab.  As a result, Howell was never able to return to the majors.

I doubt Howell's presence would have made those early 90's Phillies teams into contenders.  But not having the guy they counted on as their ace certainly didn't help.

 

Pennant Year Song of the Week

The Phillies are designed to win with elite starting pitching.  Unfortunately, without Roy Halladay, the rotation is missing its most important piece.

Therefore, this week's song is Biggest Part of Me by Ambrosia.

Random Phillies Tweet of the Week

 

From Base'Ball (@BASEBAAL_GOD):

I am preparing to judge your Roy Halladay and am accepting burnt offerings. The aroma pleases me.

Final Analysis

Ken Howell was a good pitcher.  But with or without him, those Phillies teams likely weren't going anywhere.

On the other hand, Roy Halladay is on the short list of the best pitchers in baseball.  If he has to miss a significant amount of time, the 2012 Phillies might be in real trouble.