Video via Calkins Media
The last post on this here web destination, on Saturday, was about Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay defending themselves and their pitching coach against a media attack. Lee was forced to say that he doesn’t cheat. Halladay fired back against Mitch Williams, who had criticized both Halladay’s mechanics and pitching coach Rich Dubee. The post was yet another example of the reflex amongst us Philly folk to defend to the great Doctor. He had earned our benefit of the doubt.
But not anymore.
Roy Halladay will see a doctor in California this week about shoulder soreness that none of us – not the fans, not the media, not Charlie Manuel, not Ruben Amaro, and (I wouldn’t be surprised if) not Brandi Halladay – knew about until around 6 p.m. yesterday, after Halladay gave up nine earned runs to the Marlins (17 earned runs in his last six innings): [Phillies.com]
“It started the morning after I pitched against Pittsburgh [on April 24],” Halladay said. “I woke up and didn’t really think anything of it. It was just kind of regular soreness. This kind of progressed over the last two weeks or so. It’s right shoulder discomfort.”
“This is something new this spring,” he said. “I felt good all spring. I felt good all year. I just got up after that start against Pittsburgh and had soreness in there and wasn’t able to get rid of it. That’s really all I have. We don’t have a lot of information on it. We did some tests, and obviously they aren’t completely conclusive as to what it is. There’s a couple different options, and I think the scans, the MRIs, the CTs and that kind of stuff will give us more information, and we’ll address it then. We’ll see how it plays out here in the next couple days.”
Ruben Amaro seemed pretty shocked to hear about it:
“We’re likely to have to put Doc on the DL,” Amaro said somberly. “Up until now he hasn’t really expressed any discomfort. He hasn’t been on our injury report. But now it sounds like we’ll have to DL him. Until we do some diagnostic work, we won’t know exactly what’s going on with him, but clearly, it doesn’t seem like he’s very healthy. It was pretty apparent with his performance, unfortunately.”
In other words: Halladay has been lying about his health for his past two starts since allowing one run in six innings against the Pirates.
Just a few minutes before Halladay admitted to being hurt, Manuel said that his pitcher was healthy.
Let’s create a timeline:
April 24: Halladay throws six innings and gives up one run. All is mostly right with the world.
April 25: Halladay wakes up, puts on Superman cape, notices some shoulder soreness.
April 30: Halladay allows eight runs and three home runs against the Indians. Says he feels fine: “I had to be spot-on today, I really did, and I just wasn’t. You catch any other team any other time and you’re OK, but today I had to be spot-on and I wasn’t. I’m not discouraged at all. I feel like we’ve really come a long ways, and I feel good about where I am. The location could be better at times, and I think that’s been coming, but like I said, you know, I had to be really good today, and I think that was kind of obvious throughout the whole game.”
At the time, much was made of those comments, but I didn’t see anything wrong with them. Halladay had three solid outings in a row and, sometimes, even good pitches get hit. If Halladay said he felt OK, then, fine, he’s OK. But he wasn’t. He was actually lying.
May 5: Halladay gives up nine runs to the Marlins, says he has shoulder soreness, will probably go on DL.
That’s a problem. Halladay knew he was hurt for his last two starts, two starts in which he got rocked. The Phillies are in take every win they can get mode… and it’s only May. They are a few bad weeks away from becoming sellers again. The last thing they need his more faux machoism from another aging star. Chase Utley did it last year. So did Halladay. Now he’s doing it again. And unless he throws, like, 230 innings the rest of this season (not happening), he’ll be a free agent at the end of the year. This is a contract year for him– being on the DL is the last place a player wants to be in that situation. But the last thing the Phillies need is one of their so-called stars lying about an injury. If Halladay couldn’t help the team and he knew it, he should have told Dubee – who, oh by the way, took undue criticism for Halladay’s mechanics – Manuel and Amaro. At this point, Halladay’s playing not only for his own fate, but also his teammates’ and coaches’ as well.
The Phillies aren’t without blame, however. The coddling of their stars has fostered this embarrassing environment where high-profile players withhold injuries and hurt the team in the process. It’s getting old… just like the team.
7 Responses
Can’t wait to see who says, “it’s only May” today. This team is terrible plain and simple.
On a positive note, J-Roll came through with a pinch hit single in the ninth, so at least he got to go home happy.
I don’t understand how people are surprised by anything going on with this franchise right now. Are people aware that no other sports franchise in the world has lost more games than the Phillies? They’ve lost more than ten thousand times for fucks sake! They got lucky and won a championship in 08 but they are still the WORST FRANCHISE EVER. Even a bind squirrel…
I hate to dump on Doc who’s easily been one of the best pitchers to wear Phillies pinstripes in the last generation, but he clearly screwed the pooch, and the team with his antics. Knowing full well the Phils had zero margin for error if they were going to contend for a playoff spot, for Halladay to have taken the mound twice when he KNEW he wasn’t right physically was absolutely irresponsible, and that wound up costing the team two games they could’ve won.
I don’t want to hear any macho bullshit about being a warrior and all that nonsense, by going out there to get his ass pounded into paste when he was already ailing wasn’t the act of a warrior, but a selfish cretin who put his own interests ahead of the team. What took courage would’ve been for Doc to tell Amaro, Manuel AND Dubee that he wasn’t healthy, instead, he chose to lie about his effectiveness until the whole world saw just how bad he really was, only then did he came clean about his shoulder. Pathetic.
Listening to Al Morganti on the way into work this morning, he might have hit the nail on the head, saying Doc isn’t more hurt than he already is, but that he’s done, cooked, finished. I fear he may be right.
Doc may be hurting the team by giving up large amounts of runs, but the pitiful offense doesn’t help the team when Hamels only gives up 2 runs.
It sucks he’s known about this injury but for people to boo him off the field?? Get a clue you classless fucks.. This man has been the elite pitcher for a few years now everybody is going to dog on him? Typical worthless band wagon fans
people really don’t understand the life of a pitcher. shoulder soreness happens when you pitch. If you don’t believe, then you’ve never thrown a game of baseball in your life. It becomes a problem when it lingers. He only threw two games. he obviously thought it was just staying sore a little longer than usual and tried to go out and win a game. Obviously when he felt like it was an actual problem, he said something. You honestly think that mlb starting pitchers’ arms feel wonderful throughout the season? Every single pitcher in the mlb has shut up and fought through shoulder soreness at some point in their careers. Doc just came out on the shit side of of the last two. Sure he has to communicate better with Charlie and Dubee sooner, but you act like he’s been trying to throw for the last month with a known torn labrum. What he did wasn’t selfish. He thought he could battle through it and win or else he wouldn’t have done it. He is just not pitching that well, plane and simple.
On another note, the Phillies are tough to watch all together. Sad sports days in this town.
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