http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/03/31/t ... -for-2011/
16. Cliff Lee, Philadelphia Phillies
I’ve decided that some time, when none of us were looking, Cliff Lee went to a beautiful lake with crystal clear water, a remote and spiritual lake surrounded by mountains, and he asked the ferryman who took home across if he could stay on the boat and learn the lessons of the water.
“Please let me stay,” Lee said.
“$*&$#!!#* fine, you can #%@%* stay if you $@#!$# want to stay,” said the ferryman, for he was wise and also resembled Tommy Lasorda.
Together they crossed the lake hundreds of times, thousands of times, until Cliff Lee could hear the water speak to him. And what the water told him was the secret of how to become a great pitcher.
And that’s why Lee walked 18 men in 2010 and had the best strikeout-to-walk ratio of any man who ever threw 200 innings in a single season.
It really is only a matter of time before Lee starts striking out hitters on only two pitches.
12. Chase Utley, Philadelphia Phillies
A healthy Chase Utley ranks as one the seven best players in baseball. Sadly, though, Chase Utley is not healthy. And even more than not being healthy, there’s a weird mystery about his injury. Nobody’s saying much of anything, except that he won’t start the season. In an interview with David Hale of the Courier-Post, Utley strikes a remarkably morose tone. When asked if he will play at all this season, he begins by saying, “Yeah, that’s my goal,” and ends with, “that’s definitely a possibility.”
That does not sound good at all.
Utley is so good that I keep him high on the list anyway. His swing is one of my favorites in baseball, a Veggie Samurai swing — for those of you who play that game on your phone — just a slash, blindingly fast, impossible to get the fastball by. He hits with power, he walks, he gets hit by a lot of pitches, and he has absolutely amazing defensive numbers. Maybe the defensive stats are misleading — Utley has never won a Gold Glove — but they are consistent and they are great year after year.
He’s one of the best all-around players in baseball, and the game is just not as much fun to watch with him not out there.
2. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies
They have a fan rating thing going on over at Baseball-Reference, which is a lot of fun … I highly recommend you go over there and spend a little while rating players, though to be honest about it, if you’re like me, you might never leave.
In any case, right now Roy Halladay is ranked as the 23rd-best pitcher of all time. I’ve seen him as high as 17th and as low as 30th — it’s still somewhat fluid.
But I think we’re at that point with Halladay when we can start asking just where he fits in baseball history. He has had five great seasons, I believe:
2002: When he went 19-7 with a 2.93 ERA, led the league in WAR and did not get a single Cy Young vote.
2003: When he went 22-7 with a 3.25 ERA and won the Cy Young. He led the league with nine complete games.
2008: When he went 20-11 with a 2.78 ERA and led the league with nine complete games.
2009: When he went 17-10 with a 2.79 ERA and led the league with nine complete games.
2010: When he went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA and led the league with nine complete games.
Pretty consistent — and pretty consistently great. The thing about Halladay is that while the numbers that most people notice (wins, ERA, complete games) stay about the same, he is constantly evolving as a pitcher. He’s striking out more batters now than ever before in his career. His walk rate, always good, has gone down the last two years (in fact, he has led the league in fewest walks in each of the last two years). He threw a lot more changeups in 2010 than ever before, and to great effect. He pulled back on his cutter and curveball a bit.
When he dominated in 2003, he threw his fastball two-thirds of the time.
When he dominated in 2010, he threw his fastball barely more than one-third of the time.
He doesn’t turn 34 until May, but already it’s clear that we are watching an all-timer with Roy Halladay. We should enjoy every minute.
