(Photo by: Nick Laham/Getty Images)
Good citizens in Canada might utter OH NO Canada of the latest mind-blowing news. Earlier in the season Toronto Blue Jays were filled with elation, controlling its own destiny. Of course, injuries suddenly hampered prevalence of mounting above the Yankees and Boston.
And now the latest news that arguably the game’s best pitcher, Roy Halladay is getting shopped around.
He’s a high-profiled pitcher who is mostly targeted by high-market teams, such as Los Angeles Angels, Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Boston, and New York Yankees as the fans in Toronto nervously wait, understanding there might just be a painful sweepstakes giveaway.
The front-runners in desperate need of pitching, if they are seeking to defend their title, are the Philadelphia Phillies. When reports surfaced that Halladay was on the trading block, the baseball world literally jumped into shock, elation and determination of potentially adding depth to their starting rotation.
The Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. must take a stance, by selling a few players and maybe a few prospects in the form system to acquire a second ace in their fragile rotation.
It’s one concept to uplift confidence in a rotation that has suffered with frustration and mortifications, and are not measuring up to championship caliber and look dissimilar from the team they were a year ago.
Remember, the Phillies emerging ace, Cole Hamels, whose heroics delivered unhittable threws in the World Series and helped the Phillies overcome a drought of failures. Remember when he hoisted the Most Valuable Player award, and transcended into a legend before our very eyes.
Similar heroics haven’t being the Phillies typical mentality, and rather than maintaining poise and optimism, Hamels had an unordinary outing a few weeks ago, frustrated after getting dismantled by Toronto’s surging offense.
Manager Charlie Manuel removed him from the game, after a poor outing turned into the favor of the Blue Jays, who controlled a 4-0 lead. As Hamels walked off disfigured and irritated of his pitching flaws, he exchanged a few words with home-plate umpire Mark Carlson that provoked an ejection.
That pretty much summarizes the type of season it has being for the Phillies, the same team that awed us in the World Series, the same lefthander who fans became inspired by and attached to, referring to him as Mr. October and the next legend to vault in the big-leagues.
What difference a year makes, in a juncture when the Phillies should be endorsed and pleading for another ace to uproot pitching woes.
As it stands, the Phillies have the worst ERA among starting staff in the National League. Meaning the Washington Nationals can use remodeling in the starting rotation. Even their bullpen at the nation’s capital, a locale President Barrack Obama wouldn’t relish tossing the traditional first pitch.
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