A disappointing baseball season came to an end on Wednesday, with the Philadelphia Phillies finishing the 2012 season with an 81-81 record, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The Phils must now begin preparations for an important off-season, as they look to prove that this year’s failures were just a bump in the road.
Now that the season has ended, let’s a take a look at the roster one player at a time and get an idea of what the Phillies can expect from each of these players moving forward. We’ll begin with one the biggest names on the roster, starting pitcher Roy Halladay.
2012 Expectations
The Phillies had a lot of question marks before the 2012 season began, but Roy Halladay was not one of them.
After winning a total of 40 regular season games, throwing a perfect game, a post-season no-hitter, winning a Cy Young Award in 2010 and finishing 2011 with a superb 2.35 ERA, everyone assumed that Halladay’s dominance would continue and that he would continue to be the anchor of the pitching staff.
2012 Performance
To the shock of many Phillies fans, the Roy Halladay that we saw in 2012 was a shell of his former self. The starter put together a decent win-loss record (11-8), but his ERA skyrocketed to 4.49. For the first time in his Phillies career, Halladay didn’t throw a single complete game after throwing 17 combined in his first two seasons.
Halladay battled shoulder problems throughout the season. He spent more than a month of the season on the disabled list, and even when he was healthy enough to pitch it was a struggle for the former ace to succeed on the mound. He had lost some of his velocity, and his pitches weren’t moving as well they used to, making him much more hittable for opponents.
Halladay really labored through his final five starts of the year. He finished with a 3-1 record in September, but also posted a 6.84 ERA in that time, allowing 20 earned runs in just 26.1 innings.
To sum it up quickly, Halladay has begun to decline. He had his share of good nights in which he was able to come out fire seven scoreless innings, but more often than not it was a struggle for him just to put together a quality start.
2013 Outlook
Phillies fans don’t want to hear this, but they need to understand and accept the fact that the Roy Halladay they knew and loved is gone.
Sooner or later, every athlete reaches the point in his career where his body just can’t do what it used to be able to, and their skills start to deteriorate. That’s exactly what’s happened to Halladay. He’s going to be 36-years old when the new season begins, and he’s logged a ton of miles on his arm throughout his career. Many fans, writers, and players have often described Halladay as a “machine”, but the reality is that he’s human, and can’t escape Father Time any better than the rest of us can.
Halladay himself admitted as the year ended that his body is different now than it was just a year ago, and that he needs to make adjustments to his workout routine so that he has a better chance of succeeding next season.
In 2013, less will be more for the Doc. I think that it’s going to be very important that Halladay completely understands his physical limitations at this point in his career. The days of him being the workhorse of a pitching staff are over, and with Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee still in the fold, Halladay still has a chance to thrive on this team in a lesser role.
Instead of expecting himself to go a minimum of seven or eight innings every night, I think Halladay should regularly be limited to six innings per start. By limiting the physical toll that they place on his arm, the Phillies could preserve his effectiveness and give him a better chance to perform well consistently. Maybe on nights that he looks really good, and his pitch count is low, the Phillies could leave him in for longer, but I believe the best way for the Phillies to get the most out of the former Blue Jay is to cut back on his workload. This means there can’t be anymore outings where Charlie allows Halladay to run himself into the ground with 120-130 pitches.
Halladay’s time as a true ace may be over, but he’s still got some good baseball left in him. How often we see the good remaining in him will depend entirely on how wisely the Phillies manage him in 2013.
Spot on Denny
Doc will be a 14-15 Game Winner at best with around a 4.00 ERA for his final 2 Seasons and probably be a “3 Pitcher in the Phils Rotation behind Hamels and Lee
By the way, does anyone remember Paulman stating that Washington Nationals would Win the NL East with Atlanta as the Wildcard and that the
Phils would be a 3rd-4th Place Team with less than 85 Wins
The NAtionals/Braves will be the Top Teams in the NL East for the next 3-4-5 years as both Teams have more quality young talent & arms and have better General Managers,Coaching Staffs and overall better Farm Systems
The Phils 5-6 Year Run was great to see and follow, but like every good thing, all things must pass and this current crop of players have heart,will and determination, but their core is old,aging and clearley on ther downside of their Careers.. Phils should compete for a Wild-Card SPot for the next year or 2 depending on the healthy of Howard/Utley but I wouldn’t count on anything close to what they were 3-4 Seasons ago…
Who cares that you were right dude? What do you want a madal of valor?
It should be noted that two seasons prior you picked the Braves to win the division.So throwing slop at the wall every year will eventually turn out to be a correct predicition.
Had they not lost there 3-4 hitters for most of the year and lost Doc for over a month we get that card.
And we played the Nats straight up.Go breath some mountain air will ya.
“As ive stated” and speaking about yourself in the thried person are common things from you.
Go BIRDS.
I actually stated the Nationals to Win the NL East and you all laughed and hissed at the notion.. The same ol Nats is all I heard all spring long.. I also
stand-by my statesments that the NAts are built to contend for the next 4-5 Years due to their solid young Line-up that will only get better and better and
they lost 3 Starters (Werth,Ramos,Morse) plus their Closer (Storen) for much and most of the Season.. The Nats are the new Phils and I called it when no one else has the Nats as a Legitimate Playoff Team..
Erock,
Do not waste your time with that dude. He pats himself on the back when he’s wrong and the one time he’s right. So either way, in his mind, he’s on. Who else in their right mind refers to himself in the 3rd person?? He’s still gloating on Mardy Gilyard who was CUT and re-signed.
Nationals have a nice young nucleus. The Braves have some decent talent but i think Cincinnati or St Louis is gonna come out and lose to the……Yankees.
You heard it right. Texas will choke. Baltimore overachieved and Oakland will all fall to the Yankees in 6 games. And i hate it.
Oakland will shock the world and beat the Giants in the world series
Fraud, you don’t get on here an crow when the 999 out of 1000 predictions that you are wrong about
lol @ haveatool
you’re doing such a good job at ignoring the person you say isnt worth giving attentetion to! seems to me you’re quite the fraud yourself, you obviously dont believe in sticking to your word even a little bit….toolbag
and about the article, halladay has been a fraud since the moment he got here. he sold you all a false bill of goods by throwing the perfect game and no hitter in meaningless situations, but when it mattered most the fraud couldnt get the job done against the giants…now he can’t mask his deficincies and we’re seeing he isnt that great
Halladay a fraud? Wow, there is no cure for stupidity.you have surpassed your other screen name of Fraudman. Halladay a fraud. Good one ‘paul’
lol @ haveatool
halladay is nothing more than a numbers guy. empty numbers and hollow accomplishments, the bobby abreu of pitching. tools like yourself can only see so far, and miss the big picture intirely. never forget in 2010, the fraud didnt learn from his errors and continued to pitch inside and low to that runt cody ross, who homered multiple times off of him. pretty numbers, hollow achievements, falls apart in big moments. another good comparison is peyton manning. dominate in regualr season play, comes up small in playoffs, except for tge year rex grossman handed the cotls a super bowl
You’ve never been off your couch … If you ever played one game in your life you would re-read your comment and throw up. Total loser couch potato idiot
Oh and The no hitter was a MEANINGLESS playoff game . What a douche you are paul, oops I mean FRAUD
lmao @ haveatool
please are you really that dense? that “playoff game” against the reds was a joke. the reds were scared out of their minds because theyd never been in a playoff game before at the time. they practically swung the bats with their eyes closed, and made all kinds of errors in the field. they layed down and made the fraud’s legend something it never deserved to be.
if that fradualent no hitter meant anything, he wouldnt have choked against the giants. but when a real playoff team showed up to face him, the fraud’s true colors were revealed as he made life easy for a PATHETIC lineup featuring runts like cody ross, juan urbie, edgar rentaria, and pat burrell.
all seriousness, open your blind eyes and see past what the popular opinion tells you. Empty numbers. Hollow Achivements. The Bobby Abreu of pitching. nothing more needs to be said.
Wow you might actually be the dumbest person in the world. Cy young ! nl outstanding pitcher voted by his PEERS, people not on the couch, pro athlete of the year by sporting news and fraud by some douchebag on this shotty blog.
Go back to mommys basement and play video games
An espy as best baseball player and the list goes on
Halladay has a .230 ERA in the post season idiot! He is 3-2 lefty was 6-6 , HOF, Tom Seaver HOF was 3-3greg maddox HOF 11-14 ! Sandy Koufax was 4-3? You are officially the biggest idiot here
bahahahaha @ haveatool
thank so much for making my point, you wonderful toolbag you!
all the nonsense you just listed, all the hollow achievements, the only thing that matters is whats missing: a world series championship.
jerk yourself off to all of those silly numbers and meaningless awards all you want, but you can’t hide from reality. the man imploded when it mattered most. those balls cody ross smacked are still flying through the philadelphia air.
its sad how much people like you let stats mislead them. here’s an idea: watch the games, dont just look at boxscores. espn is the same corporation that hypes up more sports frauds like jeremy lin, lebron james, tim tebow, and brett favre, its laughable that you would point to that organziation as any credible source.
if you had actually seen the inexcusable pitching he did in the 2010 nlcs, you wouldnt be on your knees for the fraud, you’d be one of the few enlightened. its not too late though toolbag, you can still wake up and join the right side.
Season ticket holder, haven’t missed a game in person or on tv in at least 5 years. You sir are stupid. All 21 wins in his cy young year were meaningless, the playoff no hitter is meaningless? You need to hop on the short bus and check yourself in
lol @ haveatool
i can make up lies too. just like your some absurd superfan with money to burn, i’m at 32 time all star 56 time gold glover eight time catcher, and 5 time coach
again, i call reference to the comparable bobby abreu. abreu always had a great batting average, drove in all kinds of runs, won a home run derby, and made all kinds of paper achievements in his career, and they mean exactly the same as the fraud’s 21 wins, and all the other fool’s gold he produced that balooned him into the status of pitching god that he flat out DOES NOT deserve. sure, he’s a successful pitcher, but he’s no different than anyone else in this league, and isn’t worhty of any special praise.
knock knock
hear that?
its your wake up call toolbag, i suggest you answer it.
Arguing with stupidity is futile good luck idiot
lol @ toolbag
i know what you mean all too well! it is hard for you to argue when you’re so blatantly foolish, but cheer up sweetheart, its not your job to be smart, just to enjoy the games! leave the analyzing and thinking to qaulified individuals (who are not you)
109876, you are the most stupid individual to ever post, you know nothing about baseball, check and understand, the pitchers roe is not to win the game, he gives his team a chance to win, he is completely a defensive piece, to the extent big Roy hasn’t won, it’s because of lack of offensive cation, and to call insignificant perfect game, no hitters, you are just some dumbass, jive talking, low jean ass riiding homey brother from the hood, get a fucking job, get off welfare
lol @ jakedog
tisk tisk tisk, you think you’re clever too, defending the fraud, but all you do is make my point stronger still! let me try to spell it out for your simple mind once again…halladady is considered by many of the fans/tools to be an infallable pitching god. the reality is he’s no more special than any other pitcher in the league, and thus should get no special praise.
want to know why the perfect game nonsense shouldnt be praised? the only class that puts the fraud in is the the same class with other nobodies like dallas brayden, phil humber, and whaetever other nonames threw a no hitter by nothing more than good luck. it doesnt make them special, why should it make halladay any different?
then when you see this “pitching god” go mia in the nlcs, what else can any sensible man call him but a fraud?
wake up idiot, throw away the #34 jersey, and appreciate the one pitcher on this team that should be the ace, and has done the only thing that matters and won a champisonshib…king cole!
and fiy, i have a good job, i am the CHIEF superintendent of the Hilton Jacobs Projects…and you’d be wise to follow my lead.
Halladay is not an elite pitcher is what you are saying? Wow
109876, while I DON’T agree with anything that havenoclue, has to say about those abortions, we currently have on the field, I agree with him about Halladay. What kind of drugs are you doing? He’s been 1 of the best pitchers in MLB, for the last decade. You sound like a clueless, argumentative, nitwit, childish tool, with your factless arguments. Plus, it’s not his fault, that our stupid, inept, incompetent GM & Coaching staff, let him pitch injured all year, on a 30+ year old, overworked arm! They are the ones, that the venom & wrath should be aimed towards. You clearly, don’t know what your talking about.
Other than Verlander, King Felix, & possibly Sabathia, who would you rather of had, & thought was better & more consistent, than Halladay, for the last 5-10 years? Stop playing your PS3 fantasy baseball, & do a little research & actually watch a few games, before making really retarded statements.
DCAR and HAC agree! Stop the presses! Next is peace in the middle east! A cure for cancer
We need Halladay to come back and be HALLADAY. Watching him at his best is such a treat
2013 Nl East Predictions
Nats and Braves fight it out for the Division Crown
Phil’s end up with about 85 wins and have an outside shot of being the 2nd Wildcard spot at best
Phil’s run is over and was a great ride though they only won 1 Championship
After dominating the NL for 4 Seasons but those days are over
I believe Sandberg will replace Manuel in June