Cy Young Profile: Roy Halladay, 2010

Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies

 

Age:  33 (May 14)

1^st season with Phillies

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’6”    Weight: 225

Prior to 2010:

A native of Colorado, Halladay played baseball at the Little League, Babe Ruth, and American Legion levels while growing up. Coached in pitching by Bus Campbell, a long-time youth instructor in the Denver area, he was highly successful at Arvada West High School, producing a 26-2 record that included two no-hitters. Halladay was also second-team All-State in basketball. He was chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the 1995 amateur draft and signed for $895,000. Halladay was first assigned to the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and produced a 3-5 record with a 3.40 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 50.1 innings pitched. Moving on to Dunedin of the advanced Class A Florida State League in 1996 he started 27 games and went 15-7 with a 2.73 ERA and 109 strikeouts. He also added a change-up to his pitching repertoire along with his fastball. Halladay spent 1997 with Knoxville of the Class AA Southern League and Syracuse of the Class AAA International League, compiling a 9-13 overall record with a 4.77 ERA and 94 strikeouts. Back with Syracuse in 1998 he missed a month due to a strained pitching shoulder but still finished with a 9-5 record and 3.79 ERA. Earning a September call-up to the Blue Jays, he started two games and won one of them in which he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Detroit before giving up a two-out home run and still completed the 2-1 win. Utilized as both a starter and reliever in 1999 Halladay pitched 149.1 innings and was 8-7 with a 3.92 ERA and a save and 82 strikeouts. He encountered difficulties in 2000 which had him going back-and-forth between Toronto and Syracuse. With the Blue Jays he started 13 of his 19 games and compiled a 4-7 record with an ungainly 10.64 ERA. He was demoted back to Class A Dunedin to start the 2001 season and at Class AA Tennessee he worked on his mechanics and delivery and went 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA in five games. Moving back up to Syracuse, Halladay appeared in two games before returning to the Blue Jays in July. Over the remainder of the season he produced a 5-3 record with a 3.16 ERA and 96 strikeouts over 105.1 innings pitched. Halladay broke out in 2002 with a 19-7 tally and 2.93 ERA while striking out 168 batters over the course of a league-leading 239.1 innings pitched. With a strong sinker to go along with his cutter and curve Halladay was effective at generating ground ball outs. Furthermore, he was christened with the nickname “Doc” after the legendary Wild West figure Doc Holliday. In 2003 he topped the AL with his 22-7 mark, 9 complete games, and 266 innings pitched, while also compiling a 3.25 ERA and 204 strikeouts. As a result, he received the AL Cy Young Award. Halladay was hampered by a sore shoulder in 2004 and dropped to 8-8 with a 4.20 ERA. His performance was stronger in 2005 until a leg fracture ended his season in July. He finished with a 12-4 tally and 2.41 ERA and his five complete games still ended up leading the AL. He had already been named to the AL All-Star team as well. Back healthy in 2006 Halladay was again an All-Star on his way to a 16-5 record, which gave him a league-leading .762 winning percentage, with a 3.19 ERA and 132 strikeouts over 220 innings pitched. 2007 was another strong year for Halladay in which he was 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA and league-leading 7 complete games while pitching 225.1 innings and accumulating 139 strikeouts. In 2008 he was a 20-game winner with a 20-11 record and 2.78 ERA, also topping the AL in innings pitched (246) and complete games (9). He struck out 206 batters and finished second in AL Cy Young Award voting in addition to being an All-Star. Halladay had another outstanding season in 2009 amid trade rumors due to Toronto’s recent lack of success on the field and at the gate and the pitcher being a year away from free agency. He finished the season with the Blue Jays and was 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA and a league-leading 9 complete games and 4 shutouts. Following the season Halladay was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for three players and his new club extended his contract through 2013.

2010 Season Summary

Appeared in 33 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 33

Games Started – 33 [6, tied with fifteen others]

Complete Games – 9 [1]

Wins – 21 [1]

Losses – 10

PCT - .677 [2]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 4 [1]

Innings Pitched – 250.2 [1]

Hits – 231 [1]

Runs – 74

Earned Runs – 68

Home Runs – 24 [12, tied with Ricky Nolasco & Wade LeBlanc]

Bases on Balls – 30

Strikeouts – 219 [2]

ERA – 2.44 [3]

Hit Batters – 6

Balks – 1 [19, tied with many others]

Wild Pitches – 5

League-leading complete games were +4 ahead of runner-up Adam Wainwright

League-leading wins were +1 ahead of runner-up Adam Wainwright

League-leading shutouts were +2 ahead of six runners-up

League-leading innings pitched were +15.2 ahead of runner-up Chris Carpenter

League-leading hits allowed were +3 ahead of runner-up Paul Maholm

 

Midseason Snapshot: 10-7, ERA – 2.19, SO – 128 in 148 IP

---

Most strikeouts, game – 11 (in 9 IP) at Florida 5/29

10+ strikeout games – 3

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 0 (in 9 IP) at Florida 5/29 (Perfect Game with 11 strikeouts. Phillies won 1-0)

Batting

Chances – 57

Put Outs – 16

Assists – 40

Errors – 1

DP – 0

Pct. - .982

Postseason Pitching: G – 3 (NLDS vs. Cincinnati – 1; NLCS vs. San Francisco – 2)

GS – 3, CG – 1, Record – 2-1, PCT – .667, SV – 0, ShO – 1, IP – 22, H – 14, R – 6, ER – 6, HR – 2, BB – 3, SO – 20, ERA – 2.45, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 0  (No-hitter in NLDS Game 1 with 1 BB & 8 strikeouts. Phillies won 4-0)

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star

6^th in NL MVP voting (130 points, 29% share)

NL Cy Young voting (top 5):

Roy Halladay, Phila.: 224 pts. – 32 of 32 first place votes, 100% share

Adam Wainwright, StL.: 122 pts. – 54% share

Ubaldo Jimenez, Col.: 90 pts. – 40% share

Tim Hudson, Atl.: 39 pts. – 17% share

Josh Johnson, Fla.: 34 pts. – 15% share

---

Phillies went 97-65 to finish first in the NL Eastern Division by 6 games over the Atlanta Braves. The pitching staff led the league in complete games (14), shutouts (21), and fewest walks issued (416). The Phillies who were 26-15 on May 15, fell off the pace over the next two months before recovering in July to finish at 49-19 and win their fourth straight NL East title. Won NLDS over the Cincinnati Reds, 3 games to 0, highlighted by Halladay’s no-hitter. Lost NLCS to the San Francisco Giants, 4 games to 2.

Aftermath of 2010:

Halladay was outstanding once again in 2011, compiling a 19-6 record with a 2.35 ERA and 220 strikeouts while again topping the league with 8 complete games. The Phillies once again finished first in the NL East but lost the NLDS to the St. Louis Cardinals. Halladay was hindered by a sore back in 2012 and stumbled to an 11-8 tally with a 4.49 ERA and 132 strikeouts over the course of 156.1 innings pitched. Suffering from several injuries in 2013 Halladay started only 13 games and went 4-5 with a 6.82 ERA. It marked the end of his pitching career. Overall in the major leagues, he compiled a 203-105 record with a 3.38 ERA. 20 of his 67 complete games were shutouts. Halladay was 55-29 with the Phillies with a 3.25 ERA, 5 shutouts, and 622 strikeouts. He was an eight-time All-Star as well as two-time Cy Young Award-winner. He died in the crash of his amphibious airplane in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast in 2017 at age 40. The Blue Jays retired Halladay’s #32 and the Phillies named him to their Wall of Fame. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017. 

---

Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.