Phillies Gameday: The Doctor Is In

“Out with the old, and in with the new”

Roy Halladay (0-1, 13.50 ERA)

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The Phightins welcome the Mets to town for a three game set, with Doc taking the hill in the opener. There may have never been a pitcher under as much scrutiny in his second start of the season than Halladay is right now. You can blame the Philadelphia media all you want, but Doc didn’t do much in his last start to quell the fears of the media and fans alike. He got roughed up by the Braves in his first outing, barely resembling the dominant pitcher we’ve come to know and love. Home runs were  a problem against Atlanta, and will continue to plague him if he doesn’t get late movement on his cutter. Everyone points to a lack of velocity, but without sharp late movement on his pitches Halladay is just an average Joe.

Matt Harvey (1-0, 0.00 ERA)

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Harvey is a bright spot on an otherwise lackluster Mets roster.  Despite star power, the team finds themselves at 4-2, and will continue win games if the league doesn’t get wise to Harvey’s stuff. Harvey dazzled in his 11 starts last year, and picked up right where he left off against the Padres striking out 10 in his first start. While Doc struggles to register on the the radar gun Harvey will have no such problem. He has a penchant for racking up K’s, so the Phils would be wise to shorten up their swings rather than shooting for the fences. At just 24 Harvey has a long ways to go as a pitcher, but with stuff like his he can get away with throwing it past hitters.

Game Notes:

Harvey beat the Phillies in his only start against them in August of last year. He struck out 6 Phils in 6-1/3 innings. J-Roll and Laynce Nix were the only Phillies hitters to notch more than a single off of Harvey, so expect both players in the lineup tonight. One game isn’t much of a sample size, but if the Phils don’t learn anything from their first time against Harvey, expect a lot of zeros on the scoreboard. But, don’t panic just yet Phillies fans. Even if Doc doesn’t look like an all-star on the mound remind yourself it’s still only week 2.