The Doctor Will See You Now

First name Doc. Last name Halladay. He doesn't wear a white coat to work each day, have scratchy handwriting (well, maybe) or even have a formal background in medicine. Instead, he's earned the nickname the old fashioned way-- through blood, sweat and... tears? Hmm. Let's just keep it simple and say that, as one of the hardest working guys in the game, Roy Halladay deserves every letter of his fan-given surname.

If you drafted him early in your fantasy draft, you're probably feeling pretty well-to-do with an unavoidable grin every time your fellow fantasy mates mention his name while they roll their eyes. You've also probably sunk a good portion of your paychecks sending "thank you" letters to Phil's skipper Charlie Manuel for allowing his newly acquired ace to increase the amount of brotherly love in and around the stadium.

If you haven't already noticed, the 6'6" power righty has already chalked up four complete games. That's twice as many as any other pitcher in the majors. Why is that so significant? First, his current career high stands at 9 (which he has reached three times!). Second, that number puts him on pace to end the season somewhere in the mid teens. Third, this puts him (as if he wasn't already) smack dab in the middle of the talk for all-time elite right handers.

Some of you might point out his 132 pitch complete game from May 18th and gripe about how "the only reason he's getting these extra innings is because of a manager's judgment call". You might also point out that this particular complete game resulted in the addition of an extra L in Roy's loss column. However, facts are facts and stats are stats. Here's the breakdown of the Doc's complete games so far in 2010:

44IP 32H 4ER 3BB 31K

ERA= 0.81
WHIP= 0.79
K/BB RATIO= 3/1
K/9= 6.9

Folks, in layman's terms, that lineup of statistics equates to complete and utter domination. It means that for each complete game pitched, Halladay has allowed less than 1 earned run, less than 1 walk or hit per inning pitched, three strikeouts for every walk given up, and almost 7 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. The easiest decision Charlie Manuel can make on the days Roy pitches a complete game is to leave him out on the mound. I'm not an advocate of kicking a guy when he's down, but Trey Hillman could make the decision to leave the Doc in. Wait, who am I kidding? Trey would have probably pitched Halladay every 3 days as well as installing him as the set-up man for all road games. Well, maybe I am an advocate of kicking a guy when he's down.

So, while little Timmy from the Bay Area might have come into 2010 as the favorite to win his third consecutive National League Cy Young award, the Doc is prepping Lince-chump's booster shots and will soon be sending him back out to the waiting room in a fit of tears. Don't worry, he'll stick a lolly pop in Timmy's back pocket before he leaves.

Next patient please. The "Doctor" will see see you now.