State Of The Phillies: Pitching

In this feature of State Of The Phillies, we take a look at the pitching, both the bullpen and starting rotation to see how they have held up during the first half.

In terms of the starting rotation we have 3 starting pitchers in the All-Star game in Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay. All three could very easily be 20 game winners and they are all likely candidates for the NL Cy Young Award. The starting pitching has overcome injuries to Roy Oswalt and Joe Blanton with great performances from newcomer Vance Worley and veteran Kyle Kendrick. Both have done a tremendous job of simply giving their team a chance to win. I can’t say enough about this starting rotation especially Lee, Hamels and Halladay. They are all pitching at an extremely high level and they are a huge part of the Phillies first half success.

As for the bullpen guys like Michael Stutes, Antonio Bastardo, Juan Perez have been huge in the absence of Ryan Madson, Jose Contreras and Brad Lidge. And when the Phils cut ties with JC Romero, Antonio Bastardo stepped in like it was his job all long. Although the Phillies bullpen is young, the guys come together and find ways to get it done. And the youthful bullpen could be a huge asset for the Phils come October.

Before the start of this season, Ruben Amaro Jr. invested a ton of money in the pitching and boy has it paid off. Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, and Cole Hamels are dominating while the youthful bullpen seems to be working even without key members. I look forward to the second half to see how many 20 game winners the Phils produce, and how much the bullpen will be able to grow before postseason begins.