Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro is far and away one of our favorite punching bags here at TOC. Yet, most of the things he says are just stupid as opposed to downright offensive. After Roy Halladay's disastrous start in Miami last night, where the former ace topped out at 83 mph and threw just five of 16 pitches for strikes, a quote from Amaro via Philly.com probably crossed the line into the land of absolute insanity.
"We talked a lot about it," Amaro said before the game. "He said he's ready to pitch, and he pitched. He wanted to pitch. We weren't going to hold him back, especially if the doctor said he couldn't do any damage. . . . He's still getting paid, he should pitch."
Halladay had major shoulder surgery just a few months ago. Since his return, Halladay has walked more hitters than he's struck out in 27 2/3 innings of work and his velocity is in the tank thanks to a fastball that can't hit 90 and a cutter that isn't cutting at 85-86. It's pretty obvious that there's still something wrong with him…but hey, he's getting paid, so he should pitch, I guess.
The surgeon that performed Halladay's surgery in May, Neal ElAttrache, said he was surprised Halladay didn't get tired sooner, and told him to rest for three weeks. Halladay's general physical condition is perhaps even more alarming than the condition of his arm, and it's borderline criminal that he's been allowed to continue to trot out to the mound when there's clearly something wrong with him.
This whole situation is just sad. Halladay looks done, and the Phillies continued to run him into the ground for no reason, with nothing to play for this season. You can talk about Halladay wanting to step up and prove his healthy, but the fact of the matter is this: these six starts that Halladay has made since his shoulder surgery have done more to hurt his stock going into 2014 than they ever could have helped him. Halladay went from a guy in May that you might sign to a one-year, $5 million contract to a guy who will be lucky to get $2 million guaranteed next year. It's a sad sight.
