Rich Dubee Whispers Secret Report While Roy Halladay has Back Turned

Todd Zolecki received a classified Roy Halladay report from Rich Dubee today at Spring Training, while Doc was distracted by something he hadn’t killed with his mind yet.

• “His spikes are starting to get dirty.”
• “I know he’s talking better.”
• “I think Doc … we’ve got a pretty good rapport.”

So, Roy’s shoulder strain seems to be working out nicely.  He’s got his shoes dirty and he’s learning how to talk again.  Also he establishing a rapport with this pitching coach.

…

How bad of a strain was this?

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Doc is pitching, which is a great sign – off a mound, no less.  But Dubee was politely ambiguous in his responses, giving us the usual “How’s Doc” fare; Doc will be how he’s going to be, but for the most part, they are going to let him decide how he feels and go from there.  Hopefully without startling him.

Everybody is learning about how honesty can make us all better by using it.  If Doc doesn’t suck it up and pitch the second half of the season with a wooden spoon in his teeth, then he might save himself some agony.  Hell, he might even extend his career.

It’s a lesson everybody could learn as he relish in the fresh start of 2013.  Chase Utley was out there today, using his knees, and if he was doing it in immense pain, then he has learned to really control his involuntary facial ticks quite admirably.  If something winds up being wrong, as in the past, then we would hope that he say something, unlike the past.

If not, then yeah, like Roy, you want him out there, getting stronger, staying strong, and fielding grounders without the aid of a wooden stool.  In Doc’s case, we’d want him grimace differently, or however he communicates Dubee, to communicate that he is less than perfectly healthy.

But, as most activities in the preseason, this will all be conducted through a veil of secrecy, as the fog of trickery is an iconic part of Phillies baseball.