In 2010, the Phillies assembled arguably the best rotation of the century. Roy Halladay (who would win the 2010 Cy Young and finish second in the 2011 voting), former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee, current Ace and postseason hero Cole Hamels, and at the trade deadline, three time all star and former NL ERA leader Roy Oswalt. Unsurprisingly, the Phillies won a combined 199 games in 2010 and 2011. In 2010, Halladay had a 2.44 ERA and won the Cy Young. Oswalt finished the year with a 2.76 ERA and led the majors in WHIP after an incredible 12 starts in Philly with a 0.895 WHIP and 1.74 ERA. In 2011, Lee and Hamels both had sub-3.00 ERAs. Lee had over 9 k/9 and Hamels had a sub-1.00 WHIP. They're coming at you in order of point values, which happens to nicely go correspondingly with decreasing Control amounts! Enjoy
Roy Halladay is an absolute tank of a Tier 2 starter. He led the majors in IP, earning that strong IP 8 to team with his incredible no doubles, Control 6 card. He's got a large K range and is worth the 650 points to solidify the top of any rotation! Roy allows you to almost guarantee a W, save bullpen arms, and enjoy frustrating your opposition to no end! Also, despite being white on white, I think the shading is different enough and the black glow does enough to still make this a very pretty card.
The #2 man in the rotation is worthy of being a #1 starter for most teams. At a pricey 580 points, Lee provides 7 strong innings with great control and a very workable chart. I also love the way his grey uniform pops on the pinstripes. It'll be fun to compare this Lee with his Cleveland Cy Young winning self, who's also a Tier 2 (but a Control 4 on at 18 with no doubles).... and even more fun to put them both in the same rotation!
Unbelievable that this guy was a rotation's #3 option! Cole is another Tier 2 starter, with less strikeouts and Control but definitely still a frontline ace. There's a reason this guy won the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP awards after all. Like Halladay, this card is helped tremendously by the slightly brighter uniform in Cole's image versus the background, helping his image pop. Another card that bolsters any set and should be a surefire draft pick.
Rounding out this fearsome foursome is a FOURTH Tier 2 starting pitcher in one rotation. Roy could very well be the frontline starter for most teams, coming in at 500 points. Yes, the Control 3 is probably cause for concern for some managers, but his chart is absolutely lethal. This reflects his dominate (Tier 1 worthy) performance after being acquired by the Phillies without sacrificing the integrity of his entire 2010 season (which he finished as a Tier 2). If you were to just play with this rotation, Roy is perfectly situated here in case he *does* suffer Control problems, allowing the bullpen to take over early and then rest for Halladay the next game. But that's probably not going to be a frequent problem, as Roy's more than capable of cruising, dominating, and winning starts.
I wonder what tilting the pinstripes off axis slightly would look like. Did you try it out? Currently it's almost too perfect if you understand my meaning.
ReplyDeleteI do like the pinstripe card direction. The greys look great on the pinstripe background.
It's a fun idea, I'm going to try it on Jose Abreu for a White Sox pinstripe! I'm just going to go... like five degrees so it's not too jarring, and see what it's like!
DeleteForgot to mention...I was in Tampa back then and still marvel at the dominance this staff had in the World Series.
ReplyDeleteThat Tampa team is a legend of its own too, I still can't believe they made the run that they did.... really demonstrates the power of a nickname change!
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