Philadelphia Phillies: Who Has Been Their Biggest Ace and Will He Win the CYA?

The Philadelphia Phillies entered the 2011 season with one of the most heralded and hyped starting rotations in decades.

They were called everything from The Four Aces (or Phour Aces, if you prefer) to R2C2, to Mound Rushmore, and the sky was the limit for them this year.

In large part, they have collectively met the hype so far—indeed, it would have been almost impossible for them to have exceeded it.

The amazing thing about their success is not the wonderful pitching of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, but the fact that rookie Vance Worley has come to the fore (or is it the four?) and picked up the slack for Roy Oswalt, who has been beset with injuries this year.

Even Kyle Kendrick has pitched quite well when called upon, making Phillies fans forget about Joe Blanton, a pretty good pitcher for them over the years, but clearly the fifth wheel on an elite sports car that was graced with four big wheels.

With an MLB-best 77-40 record, the Phils are all but assured of a playoff berth, and the best record in the National League.

The remaining eight or nine starts apiece for the rotation may well sort out whether Oswalt or Worley will be the No. 4 man in the playoff rotation, with the probable front three of Halladay, Lee and Hamels.

But of those three, who has been their ace among aces?

And if I had to fill out my NL Cy Young Award ballot right now, who would make my top 10?

Vance Worley: An Appreciation

Affectionately known as "the Vanimal", Worley may figure into the NL Rookie of the Year voting at season's end. The 23-year-old righty has been almost as beastly on the mound as his moniker would suggest.

Even though he was hit around a bit by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday afternoon (seven hits and six earned runs in just four innings), the no-decision kept Worley's won-loss record at 8-1 and only elevated his ERA to 2.85. (That would rank him eighth among all NL starters if he qualified with enough innings.)

Worley has fanned 78 batters and walked 34 in 92.1 innings of work, and his WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) has been an impressive 1.17.

Yes, it was much lower before yesterday's outing, but that number would still rank him in the top 13 in that category.

The most impressive single stat of his extraordinary rookie campaign is that the Phillies are 12-2 when he starts a game. Their percentage has not even been that high when Doc Halladay mans the hill.

A Look at Roy Oswalt

In his 12 regular season starts for the Phillies last season, Roy Oswalt was practically unhittable: 7-1, 1.74 ERA and a microscopic WHIP of 0.895. As terrific as Cy Young Award winner Halladay was, Little Roy actually was their best pitcher down the stretch.

Injuries have derailed Oswalt's 2011 campaign, and it hurts to see such a good pitcher struggle with a 4-7 record and an ERA of 3.84. Indeed, his WHIP is an un-Oswalt-like 1.409, significantly higher than his career average.

The Phillies are only 5-9 in games that the former Astros ace has started, although poor run support has certainly contributed to that mark.

Oswalt has not been that bad; he's just not been up to his standards, and Phillies' fans wonder if he will be healthy and effective enough to take the ball as their No. 4 man in the postseason.

On May 23, before his back really did him in, Roy was 3-2 with a 2.60 ERA and eight of his first nine starts were quality starts.

A Composite Look at Halladay, Lee and Hamels

It is hard to find a significant pitching category where you won't find Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels at the top of the NL charts.

WINS: Halladay (15-4) leads the league, Hamels (13-5) is tied for third, and Lee (12-7) is tied for sixth.

ERA:   Halladay (2.51) is in second place, followed by Hamels (2.53) in third and Lee (2.83) in sixth.

Innings: Doc takes first place (175.2), with Lee (second at 172) and Hamels (167, in fourth) right behind him. They have made 24 starts apiece.

WHIP: Hamels (0.96) leads the league; Halladay (1.05) is third and Lee is tied for fourth at 1.09.

Complete Games: Back to Doc in first with six, with Lee right behind him at five. Hamels is in a fifth place tie with two.

Shutouts: Lee is running away with this one (five). This is a category that Halladay and Hamels (surprisingly) have not yet entered.

Strikeouts: Lee is second in the NL (to the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw) with 177. Halladay (163) is in fourth and Hamels is tied for fifth at 150.

If you are fan of WAR (using the value provided by baseball-reference.com), you will see the Phillies' three aces ranked No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 here as well. Halladay (5.4) is closely followed by Hamels (4.9) who is being tailgated by Lee (4.5).

For what it's worth, I'm not a big fan of WAR, but it's hard to quibble with the results here.

The Case for Halladay: He Just Wins

Of course, Halladay does more than just win games; his statistics live up to the widely held opinion that he is the best pitcher in baseball. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner has done nothing to dissuade anyone from that judgment.

Among the Phils' aces, Doc has the best win-loss record (15-4) and his ERA is a hair (.02) lower than Cole's and about .32 below Cliff's.

When Halladay starts, the Phillies have a 20-4 record; the Fightin's record is 16-8 when Hamels starts and 15-9 for Lee. Some of this is attributable to run support; as you might imagine, Halladay has the most run support (4.79 runs per nine), followed by Hamels (4.25) and Lee (3.70).

The Case for Hamels: The Most Consistent Pitcher This Year

Hamels currently leads the team with 20 quality starts, followed by Halladay (19) and Lee (17).

Another sign of his consistency (and stinginess) is Hamels' league-leading WHIP of 0.96.

Simply put, Hamels is having the best season of his career, and has had very few poor outings in 2011.

A good case can be made that Hamels has had fewer subpar outings than anyone on his team, and perhaps, anyone among the elite starters in the NL.

The Case for Lee: The Most Spectacular of the Bunch

When Cliff Lee has been on, he's really been on fire this year.

Lee leads the league with five (complete game, of course) shutouts, and the next closest has two. Great as they are, Halladay and Hamels have not had any this season. Cliff also has two outings in which he threw eight innings (including his most recent start) of shutout ball.

Cliff is right behind Doc in complete games and innings pitched, and leads the team in strikeouts. Although his win-loss record is not as gaudy as that of his counterparts, Lee has received poor run support—a half-run per game less than Hamels, and a full run less than Halladay has had to work with. (And that's with Lee's own sometimes potent bat providing some of his offense!)

We have not even touched upon Lee's base running and fielding, which is among the best of any pitcher in baseball. This is not meant as a knock on Doc (he plays a complete game) and Hamels, who also helps his own cause with his savvy and athleticism.

So, Who Has Been the Phillies' Best Pitcher so Far?

Who has been the Phillies' best starter so far among these three aces, who have all held Cy Young-like campaigns?

That's easy: Cole Halla-Lee, no, Cliff Ham-aday... no, Roy Ham-Lee.

You get the idea: All three have been wonderful, but at the risk of agreeing with the WAR values, I would rate Doc slightly ahead, with Hamels second and Lee a close third.

Of course, all three figure to toe the rubber at least eight more times in the regular season, and (Phillies fans hope) several more times apiece in the postseason.

Speaking of the postseason, if it were to start tomorrow (assuming they were all rested) and I was playing the part of Charlie Manuel, my four-man rotation would be: Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt, if he resembles Roy Oswalt. If he is injured, I would plug Vance Worley into the No. 4.

Think of it this way. All three pitchers have been lights-out most of this season. Doc is probably the best starting pitcher on the planet, Lee has been one of the top couple big-game pitchers the least two years, and Hamels was the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP.

Not too shabby... but is Doc also my current choice (with a little over a quarter of the season to go) for the NL Cy Young Award?

Top 10 NL Cy Young Candidates

A lot of NL pitchers are enjoying great success this year, which makes my Top 10 list a tough one to compile. For our purposes, I am not including any relievers, even if a candidate or two probably merits it (Joel Hanrahan of the Pirates, anyone?).

For now, my Top Ten is:

10) Jhouylys Chacin, Rockies

  9) Matt Cain, Giants

  8) Tim Lincecum, Giants

  7) Ian Kennedy, Diamondbacks

  6) Ryan Vogelsong, Giants

  5) Jair Jurrjens, Braves

  4) Cliff Lee, Phillies

  3) Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers

  2) Cole Hamels, Phillies

  1) Roy Halladay, Phillies

And now, it's your turn to respectfully and passionately weigh in below!