Comments on: Roy Halladay endorses Cole Hamels as Opening Day starter

By: rgamb285

rgamb285 — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:04:49 +0000

There is no question that Halladay is the most accomplished pitcher on the team, but Cole deserves the opening day slot because he has yet to have that honor in his career. His performance in the 08 postseason should have earned him this in 09 when Brett Myers started opening day. I see this more a reward for his level of play and the fact that he was World Series MVP for this team. It also helps that he got PAID last year, and Halladay understands all of this and is a true professional who will take this at face value. I see the Phils on top of the NL East again as long as they stay healthy, but that is a big IF.

By: hisgirlgotburrelled

hisgirlgotburrelled — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 15:20:39 +0000

He also needs 415 IP over 2012-13, so he needs 258 2/3 IP this year, which is where it becomes unlikely the option vests.

By: tuberippin

tuberippin — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:25:51 +0000

Preposterous!

By: tuberippin

tuberippin — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:19:23 +0000

His option vests if he throws over 225 innings this year and isn’t on the DL at the end of the season; Halladay threw 250 2/3 innings in 2010 and 233 2/3 in 2011.

By: oldnavyperformancefleece

oldnavyperformancefleece — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 04:52:24 +0000

Doc is a pimp. If you think he’s washed up he’ll make you one of his ho’s this season……By the way Cole would probably be working on his 5th straight opening day start if not for some elbow tightness late in spring training ’09

By: officialgame

officialgame — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 01:59:17 +0000

It would seem that in a rotation of consisting of 3 lefty’s and 2 righty’s that spliting them up would be a valid baseball concern.

By: girlsknowsportstoo

girlsknowsportstoo — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:55:31 +0000

Do you just make crap up?

By: ochospantalones

ochospantalones — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 22:15:10 +0000

As a Phillies fan, this has struck me as a non-issue. It’s just not very important, and it’s hard to imagine Hamels or Halladay would much care. Oddly left out of this discussion is the ace who actually is a bit touchy and might care, Cliff Lee. FWIW, my guess is Lee will end up having the best season of the three this year.

By: xmatt0926x

xmatt0926x — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:46:05 +0000

I think dwdive is actually trolling you guys…

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:29:52 +0000

I said it a month ago and was ripped by bicepts on twitter that I am insane and that Doc would be the starter no matter what if healthy. His nickname not withstanding, I think the cepts is a little bit biased in this debate. The fact is that the Phillies have hitched the next decade behind Cole and they aren’t going to start Lee or Doc anymore on opening day for at least the next 4 years, provided Lefty Deux is healthy. And of course Doc is not going to say anything. He will always be the definition of class.

By: dwdive

dwdive — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:26:28 +0000

We’ll see, that’s why they play the games. I guess a team that won 102 games 2 yrs ago and had 3 pitchers finish in the top 5 of Cy Young voting, is now a garbage team… funny stuff, nobody in the div is WAY better.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:21:25 +0000

That is SUCH a better troll than yesterday!

By: dwdive

dwdive — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:58:58 +0000

Sweeter, not sweater

By: skerney

skerney — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:58:47 +0000

Ok, bub. Good luck with that.

By: dwdive

dwdive — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:55:21 +0000

Stop it, the Phillies still have the best infield in the div and the addition of both Youngs and Rivere, the line-up will be a lot better than last yr. When you have the big 3 starters all healthy, plus a healthy Utley and Howard for the 1st time in 3 years, they are as good as anyone. Not to mention Ruf will surprise a lot of people with his power while playing left field. I will give you the Nationals, on paper they probably are better right now, but not the Braves. They added the Upton brothers, but lost chipper and prado. BJ hasn’t hit above .246 in 5 seasons, and Justin is a .278 lifetime hitter. Added to the fact that they average almost 350 combined strike-out a yr, with both averaging less than 20 HR’s a season. How much better did they Braves get? I love it that the Phillies are being discounted as the 3rd best team in the div right now, it will make it that much sweater when they are playing like one of the best teams in the league, because they still are.

By: skerney

skerney — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:41:22 +0000

Halladay is a class act, Hamels has earned the Opening Day start, but they are not “still as good as anyone.” I’m not trolling you here, it just simply isn’t true. The Nationals are a far better team, and the Braves got way better this offseason. The sky was the limit from 2009-11 but not now. The limit is how far the big three can take the aging and injury prone infield. The Phillies will likely be better than 2012, but if the the injury bug bites them again this year they are going to have a battle contending for those Wild Card spots.

By: phisticuffs

phisticuffs — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:20:37 +0000

I’m not comfortable with that comparison. Dr. Manhattan was shutdown late in his rookie season due to an innings limit.

By: hisgirlgotburrelled

hisgirlgotburrelled — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:20:24 +0000

Surprised I haven’t heard yet that this is a sign he’ll be traded mid-season or won’t be resigned at the end of the year.

By: dwdive

dwdive — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:09:33 +0000

Roy is such a class act. Hamels has earned it though. It should be an interesting year for this team. This is the last year this group will be together as a whole. The roster will look very different next year, with that said, I think they will finally play with some urgency. Phillies are still as good as anyone. With the big 3 still in the rotation, and everyone finally fully healthy going in, the sky is the limit.

By: craigisaloser

craigisaloser — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:08:32 +0000

LAME non-story by the king of cut and paste