The argument all year long has been about whether the Phillies made a mistake in trading away Cliff Lee, but the better observation should be about how valuable Roy Halladay has been in the starting rotation and how he's gotten this team to where they are right now.
Halladay is 16-8 this season and that's with the struggles he's had to endure in regards to the Philadelphia offense costing him a couple victories this season. Even with some of the run issues Halladay experienced around the All-Star break, he's still gotten to within four wins of the 20 win mark and would be the first Phillies pitcher to reach that mark since Steve Carlton in 1982.
It's the first season Halladay has had the opportunity to pitch in a true pennant race and he has stepped up to the challenge as one of his more impressive numbers has been the microscopic ERA he's put up of 2.16 and in his last nine starts he's only given up more than four earned runs twice.
Roy has put together an amazing campaign for NL CY Young even though, for some reason, he hasn't been mentioned too often. Halladay leads the NL in innings pitched with 17 more innings than Adam Wainwright.
Halladay also leads the league in strikeouts with 180 and Halladay has never led the league in strikeouts, this has been a historic season for the seven-time All Star and it couldn't have come at a better time for Philadelphia as Halladay has been an important factor in the Phillies staying in the race and making another second half run.
Halladay has a really strong case for the NL's Cy Young award, as last night Roy won another 1-0 game and in the process lowered his ERA as the Phillies beat the Nationals. It was the third 1-0 game that Halladay has won this season.
Having a top of the line pitcher for an entire season has been a new concept for the Phils, since in years past if you exclude Cole Hamels, Philadelphia has cycled through guys like Adam Eaton, Freddy Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jon Lieber. This team hasn't had a definitive ace since Curt Schilling who left the city of brotherly love in 2000.
Halladay's biggest competition for the NL Cy Young is Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez, St. Louis' Adam Wainwright and Atlanta's Tim Hudson.
Hudson is definitely the hottest pitcher at the moment with an ERA of 0.93 in August with a record of 3-0.
Jimenez struggled through the month of July, giving up four or more earned runs in three of his five starts and has a ERA of 6.04 for the month. In August, he has righted the ship winning two of three starts and has an ERA of 2.05 while holding a phenomenal season record of 17-3.
Wainwright also has 17 wins on the season and leads the league in ERA, and Adam has become the popular pick of the moment as he has pitched seven or more innings in four straight starts without giving up more than three earned runs in any of them.
So Roy has a lot of competition down the stretch but Phillies fans are enjoying the fact that every five days is as close to a lock as it can get with Halladay on the mound and the fact that he has won six starts in a row bodes well for what is still to come down the stretch.
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