When Roy Halladay first emerged as an elite starter he missed plenty of bats, but his strikeout rate has dipped in recent years as he focused more and more on pitching to contact. The change in approach served Halladay well because his excellent control and ground-ball inducing ways let him pitch deep into games while conserving his pitch count, but meanwhile the lack of strikeouts kept him from being a truly elite fantasy pitcher.
From 2001-2005, Halladay struck out 19 percent of the batters he faced, including a career-high 204 strikeouts in his Cy Young-winning 2003 season. Between 2006 and 2007, he struck out just 15 percent of the batters he faced and managed just 132 and 139 strikeouts despite logging 220 innings both years. Interestingly, after two years of pitching to contact Halladay is missing more bats this season than he has since 2001.
Halladay held the A's to one run over eight innings Monday, picking up his 13th win while fanning eight. With 149 strikeouts in 175 innings he's already surpassed his season totals from 2006 (220 innings) and 2007 (225 innings) while fanning 21 percent of the batters he's faced. He's combined the best of both approaches by conserving pitches, throwing strikes, inducing ground balls, and working deep in games while still missing bats. Add it all up and it's a Cy Young-caliber year.
While Halladay comes up one inning short of his MLB-leading eighth complete game, here are some other notes from around baseball .
* It looks like the Rangers are on the verge of switching closers even if manager Ron Washington continues to dance around the topic. Washington had Eddie Guardado and not closer C.J. Wilson warming up with a one-run lead in the ninth inning Sunday, although when Guardado eventually came into the game it was a non-save situation because the Rangers upped the lead to four runs. Guardado didn't pick up a save, but would have if the lineup didn't tack on more damage.
"I just felt it," Washington said. "I felt Eddie was the right man. That's all it was. That's not C.J. falling out of favor or losing his job. It's nothing like that." Well, it's something like that. Wilson has been on thin ice for a while now and is sporting an ugly 6.17 ERA since June 1, although he's converted 24-of-28 save chances overall. Washington indicated Monday that fatigue may have played in a part in Wilson's recent struggles, but Wilson avoided the question when asked.
Washington also gave Wilson a half-hearted vote of confidence, saying that he's still the Rangers' closer while adding that he may choose to use other options in future save situations. There was no save to be had Monday as Guardado worked the ninth inning of a tie game at home-when any chance for a save had vanished-so it's tough to get a good feel for whether the job truly still belongs to Wilson. Whatever the case, Guardado is waiting in the wings.
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* With Billy Wagner expected to undergo an MRI exam on his sore left forearm and setup men Aaron Heilman and Duaner Sanchez both struggling, the Mets called up former first-round pick Eddie Kunz from Double-A. Kunz is just 22 years old and has a grand total of 53 pro appearances under his belt, but he closed in college for a championship Oregon State team, saved 27 games with a 2.79 ERA at Double-A, and may get a chance to establish himself in a key late-inning role.
Kunz isn't a typical closer prospect in that he doesn't get tons of strikeouts-although he misses a fair number of bats-but he's one of the most extreme ground-ball pitchers in baseball and has yet to serve up a homer in 60.1 innings as a pro after giving up just one long ball in 100 college innings. A side-arming right-hander with a heavy low-90s fastball and power slider, it's possible that Kunz could even find himself in the mix for saves if Wagner's arm problems linger.
AL Quick Hits:Joba Chamberlain left Monday's start with shoulder stiffness after coughing up five runs in 4.2 innings . Eric Chavez is scheduled to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery next week and the six-time Gold Glove third baseman may be forced to abandon the position once he returns . Michael Cuddyer (hand) is slated to begin a minor-league rehab assignment Tuesday at Triple-A with an eye toward returning next week . Showing zero signs of slowing down, Cliff Lee held the Rays to two runs over seven innings Monday for his AL-leading 15th victory . Ichiro Suzuki's stolen base Sunday was his first in 22 games, yet still tied him with Jacoby Ellsbury for the AL lead . Robinson Cano (hand) returned to the lineup and homered Monday after missing two straight starts . Erik Bedard (shoulder) played catch Sunday for the first time in nearly a month, but there's still no timetable for his return . Carl Crawford was scratched from Monday's lineup with lingering hamstring soreness, giving Eric Hinske a start in left field . Damaso Marte loaded the bases with three walks and then served up a walk-off grand slam Monday.
NL Quick Hits: Taking advantage of what's probably a hundred-pound weight gap, Prince Fielder shoved Manny Parra into the bench during a dugout scuffle Monday . Placed on the disabled list Sunday, John Maine (shoulder) is expected to return following the minimum 15-day stay . Just days after "benching" him, manager Bruce Bochy said Sunday that Omar Vizquel will continue to start twice per week . According to manager Lou Piniella, Kerry Wood (blister) may come off the DL before Friday and will make at least one appearance in middle relief before reclaiming closer duties . Jay Bruce smacked his first career homer off a left-hander Monday, but is still batting below .200 against southpaws overall . Out since late June, Jeff Francis (shoulder) is scheduled to come off the shelf Wednesday against the Nationals after throwing six shutout innings in his final minor-league rehab start . Freddy Sanchez (back) returned to the starting lineup Monday for the first time in a week and led off for the Pirates . Bronson Arroyo held the Brewers to one run over six innings Monday and smacked a two-run double to break a 0-0 tie in the fifth inning.
