Mariano Rivera throws a cutter that veers into the hands of left-handed hitters, and Brandon Webb might throw the best two-seam fastball that moves the other way. But Roy Halladay is really the only pitcher in the majors who throws cutters and two-seamers with dramatic movement in both directions, which is why opposing hitters are constantly chortling about Halladay on those rare occasions when they find their way on base against him.
"It pretty much happens all the time," said Toronto second baseman
Aaron Hill, laughing. "He'll break their bats with a pitch, and they'll drop in a single, and when they get [to second base], they'll say, 'I'll take that every time. I'll take that against Halladay.'"
Aubrey Huff of the Orioles once got a hit off Halladay, and later in the same game, Toronto catcher
Rod Barajas reached first base, the position played by Huff that night, and Huff started talking about his hit. "He said he didn't know whether he had gotten his hit off a cutter or a sinker," Barajas said. "He's the toughest guy in the majors to hit against, because you can't predict what he's going to do. If you're looking for the cutter, he can throw the sinker, and if you're looking for the sinker, he can throw the cutter -- and even if you do sit on it and get it right, he has a lot of movement and you'll probably miss it."
But opposing hitters are not alone in struggling with Halladay on the mound. Barajas says umpires are sometimes fooled by Halladay's fastballs, because they will see the pitch on the way homeward, and internally, they'll determine that the pitch is a ball, and at the last instant, it'll cut or sink into the strike zone just as the umpire calls a ball. Barajas says umpires will sometimes acknowledge to him that they simply gave up on the pitch too early. "I thought there was no chance that pitch could come back to the plate," one umpire said to Barajas recently.
"He's got so much late life on his pitches that it can be a problem," Barajas said.
Halladay will take his 6-1 record,
with a 3.29 ERA, into the first game of Toronto's second season tonight, when the Blue Jays play their first game against the AL East trio of the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox. Tonight he starts against New York's
A.J. Burnett in Burnett's first start in Toronto since leaving the Jays.
Halladay has been the anchor of a patchwork rotation made up of younger guys, and Barajas believes the others have benefited from Halladay's example. "What these guys are looking at is how hard this guy works, and how hard he competes," Barajas said. "This guy never gives up. He beats everybody else to the field by an hour to two hours, and I think these young guys see that and learn from it. I've seen huge improvement with
Scott Richmond. He's more prepared in his starts now, because he does the video work; he does the extra work that Doc does."
A rotation built on young pitchers would tend to have control issues, but so far, the likes of
Brett Cecil and
Ricky Romero and others have
limited their walks. "You couldn't ask for a better job than they've done," Hill said. "Those guys have come in and pounded the strike zone, and that's all you can ask for."
Help is on the way. Within the next month, the Jays should get back Romero,
Casey Janssen and
Jesse Litsch from the disabled list.
It's May, but this upcoming series is
a big deal, writes Bob Elliott. This is
Opening Day Pt. II for the Jays, writes Richard Griffin. It's A.J. versus Doc, and
let the fun begin, as Mark Zwolinski writes.
The Jays versus the Yankees
is a big series, writes Jeff Blair. Bob Klapisch wonders if the Yankees will
be up to the task in Toronto.
Elsewhere…
•
Ryan Zimmerman is absolutely killing the ball: He mashed a couple of homers among three hits and now has
a 29-game hitting streak, as Chico Harlan writes.
Dom DiMaggio reflected upon his own hitting streak
in an interview with Alan Schwarz.
•
Eric Wedge says he's not focusing on his
job status.
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Buster Olney
