Halladay Best Pitcher of Last Decade by Far

lobosloboslobos · Post #1 » by **lobosloboslobos** » Tue May 31, 2011 2:47 pm

Yesterday, by pitching 7 innings against Washington in Washington, Roy Halladay has now gone at least six innings in 60 straight road starts, the longest streak since Walter Johnson did it in 82 straight from 1911-1915. Think about that for a minute. Incredible. There have been something like 10,000 pitchers in the league since Walter Johnson. Doc is the first one to pull this off.

On top of that, of the 15 active pitchers in the MLB who have pitched more than 2100 innings, Halladay has the lowest career ERA (3.29), the most shutouts (19, next is Moyer with 10), the most complete games (62, next is Wakefield at 42 and then Livan Hernandez at 33) and the best winning percentage (176-89). He also has by far the best strike-out-to-walk ratio (1805-498).

Add to that his perfect game and the playoff debut no-hitter, and the fact that for most of his career he played on average teams at best, and I think it is clear that Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball and has been for some time.

I know he gets more respect than he used to but I don't think people realize how dominant he has been. Just doing my part to spread the word...

ntorvik · Post #2 » by **ntorvik** » Tue May 31, 2011 5:49 pm

I feel like the majority of baseball fans out there regard Halladay as the best pitcher. I suppose I might be wrong, but that's the feeling I get. Any time someone says "Who is the best pitcher in baseball?" and then gives a few options, Halladay is ALWAYS on that list to choose from and the MAJORITY pick him. Heck, people that only watch baseball from time to time know who Halladay is and how absolutely overpowering he can be in every start. You don't even need to look at past season to know how dominant he is. Just watch one game.

Pharmcat · Post #3 » by **Pharmcat** » Tue May 31, 2011 10:24 pm

every1 acknowledges he is the best

but frankly, pitchers who pitch in the nl in general ( i know he was great in the AL) need to be viewed differently than Al pitchers who face much more potent lineups

Post #4 » by **TyCobb** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:18 pm

Exactly. And for that, Jered Weaver may be the best pitcher in baseball right now.

Post #5 » by **craig01** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:22 pm

That is an amazing stat.

Pharmcat · Post #6 » by **Pharmcat** » Wed Jun 1, 2011 4:35 am

TyCobb wrote:Exactly. And for that, Jered Weaver may be the best pitcher in baseball right now.

when are you cats trading him to NY?

surely LAA could use montero

Post #7 » by **Duffman100** » Fri Jun 3, 2011 5:42 pm

Pharmcat wrote:every1 acknowledges he is the best

but frankly, pitchers who pitch in the nl in general ( i know he was great in the AL) need to be viewed differently than Al pitchers who face much more potent lineups

Except that he was amazing when he pitched in the hardest Division in baseball.

Pharmcat · Post #8 » by **Pharmcat** » Sat Jun 4, 2011 4:01 pm

Duffman100 wrote:
Pharmcat wrote:every1 acknowledges he is the best

but frankly, pitchers who pitch in the nl in general ( i know he was great in the AL) need to be viewed differently than Al pitchers who face much more potent lineups

Except that he was amazing when he pitched in the hardest Division in baseball.

i acknowledged that in my post

BelgianMagic · Post #9 » by **BelgianMagic** » Mon Jun 6, 2011 5:51 pm

Timmy Lincecum FTW !! 8-)

Dirty Water · Post #10 » by **Dirty Water** » Wed Jun 8, 2011 12:49 pm

Roy Halladay has probably been the best pitcher in this era. That stat the OP posted is amazing.

However, I still think Pedro Martinez was more dominant for the era he was playing in. You look at his 97-04 stretch and its ridiculous. Arguably doesn't qualify as in the last decade, but it's close. Especially 1999,2000. He won CY Young, guy who came in 2nd had an ERA two and a half runs higher. I think his WHIP that year was like 0.71, a modern record. This is all during steroid era.

cb4_89 · Post #11 » by **cb4_89** » Thu Jun 9, 2011 2:39 am

Pharmcat wrote:
Duffman100 wrote:
Pharmcat wrote:every1 acknowledges he is the best

but frankly, pitchers who pitch in the nl in general ( i know he was great in the AL) need to be viewed differently than Al pitchers who face much more potent lineups

Except that he was amazing when he pitched in the hardest Division in baseball.

i acknowledged that in my post

Yeah but your post makes no sense. He pitched amazing in the AL east and was the best pitcher in all of baseball most of those years, then goes to the NL and he isn't as good anymore?

Zeitgeister · Post #12 » by **Zeitgeister** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 6:32 pm

Never led the NL or AL in strikeouts, never led the NL or AL in ERA, never led the NL or AL in WHIP. He's a great pitcher. He's obviously an inning eater. One thing about that Walter Johnson comparison though, he accomplished what he did on 1 day less of rest.

I'd take Pedro Martinez or Johan Santana's primes probably. But its close.

Pharmcat · Post #13 » by **Pharmcat** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:44 am

cb4_89 wrote:Yeah but your post makes no sense. He pitched amazing in the AL east and was the best pitcher in all of baseball most of those years, then goes to the NL and he isn't as good anymore?

my basic point is that any NL pitcher stats need to be taken with what the situation is, its just easier to pitch in the NL, no DH, the pitcher has to bat, very weak teams, etc

Post #14 » by **GYBE** » Wed Jun 15, 2011 4:13 pm

2100 innings is...a ton of innings. Of course I would expect Halladay to dominate stats with that benchmark. Look at the other names you mentioned; Wakefield, Hernandez and Moyer. Entirely average pitchers with longevity. Halladay deserves credit for his longevity and health, but that doesn't mean he's been the been the best pitcher by far.

Most of his peers in talent are significantly younger, they've never had the chance to be in this discussion. Lincecum already has 2 Cy Young's and a World Series title in 3 full seasons. Felix Hernandez threw 240 innings of 2.49 ERA ball two years ago and 250 innings of 2.27 ERA last year. Neither have had any injury problems so far.

lobosloboslobos · Post #15 » by **lobosloboslobos** » Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:09 pm

GYBE wrote:2100 innings is...a ton of innings. Of course I would expect Halladay to dominate stats with that benchmark. Look at the other names you mentioned; Wakefield, Hernandez and Moyer. Entirely average pitchers with longevity. Halladay deserves credit for his longevity and health, but that doesn't mean he's been the been the best pitcher by far.

Most of his peers in talent are significantly younger, they've never had the chance to be in this discussion. Lincecum already has 2 Cy Young's and a World Series title in 3 full seasons. Felix Hernandez threw 240 innings of 2.49 ERA ball two years ago and 250 innings of 2.27 ERA last year. Neither have had any injury problems so far.

Fair points. But that list of 15 guys currently over 2100 innings also includes Hudson, Pettite, Colon, Sabathia, Livan Hernandez...not that shabby.

Also, Doc is leading MLB this year, at the age of 34, in innings, complete games, strikeouts and wins, with a top 10 era, so he looks to be able to keep up this top form for a while. Maybe even 2-3 more years, which would mean he would carry those dominant percentages up to 3,000 innings. Maybe even more given his famously strict conditioning. So while longevity can just mean someone racks up lots of wins alongside lots of losses, in his case we're talking longevity as a dominant pitcher. Will Lincecum and Hernandez and guys 6-8 years younger stay healthy and dominant into their mid-30s? For their sake I hope so but it is far from a given.

Lastly, Halladay didn't learn to pitch until his 5th full year in the league. Til that point he had a record of 18-17 and in his 2nd year as a full-time starter had a 10.64 ERA. I'm just saying that if you were to take only his record from 2002 on it would look that much better.

Post #16 » by **TMU** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 12:07 pm

Zeitgeister wrote:Never led the NL or AL in strikeouts, never led the NL or AL in ERA, never led the NL or AL in WHIP. He's a great pitcher. He's obviously an inning eater. One thing about that Walter Johnson comparison though, he accomplished what he did on 1 day less of rest.

I'd take Pedro Martinez or Johan Santana's primes probably. But its close.

Agreed.

primecougar · Post #17 » by **primecougar** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:38 am

doc has been the best pitcher in the decade and the greatest toronto athlete

dunkmachine · Post #18 » by **dunkmachine** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:50 pm

lobosloboslobos wrote:Yesterday, by pitching 7 innings against Washington in Washington, Roy Halladay has now gone at least six innings in 60 straight road starts, the longest streak since Walter Johnson did it in 82 straight from 1911-1915. Think about that for a minute. Incredible. There have been something like 10,000 pitchers in the league since Walter Johnson. Doc is the first one to pull this off.

On top of that, of the 15 active pitchers in the MLB who have pitched more than 2100 innings, Halladay has the lowest career ERA (3.29), the most shutouts (19, next is Moyer with 10), the most complete games (62, next is Wakefield at 42 and then Livan Hernandez at 33) and the best winning percentage (176-89). He also has by far the best strike-out-to-walk ratio (1805-498).

Add to that his perfect game and the playoff debut no-hitter, and the fact that for most of his career he played on average teams at best, and I think it is clear that Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball and has been for some time.

I know he gets more respect than he used to but I don't think people realize how dominant he has been. Just doing my part to spread the word...

I completely agree with you. Halladay can't be touched!

BritneysBestBet · Post #19 » by **BritneysBestBet** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 6:59 pm

Yawwwn...Sorry you were saying something? Yes Doc is the games best. We know!

sule · Post #20 » by **sule** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:33 am

anyone think he has a chance to make it to 300 wins?