18 wins? So what?

Roy Halladay won his 18th game for the Phillies on Friday night, as Philadelphia beat the Mets 8-4 at Citi Field to stay one game ahead of the Braves in the NL East.

It wasn't exactly his best outing--but then again, he did pitch a perfect game earlier this year, so nothing can top that--but it was good enough for a Phillies team that gave him all that run support. Four runs, eight hits, in 7.2 innings isn't exactly Cy Young numbers, but he'll probably win it anyway because there's no clear-cut favorite thanks to the collapses of Tim Lincecum, Chris Carpenter, Josh Johnson, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Adam Wainwright. (Please don't add Atlanta's Tim Hudson to the Cy Young discussion; he lost to the PIRATES in his last start.)

And in his last start before beating the Mets, Halladay gave up four runs against the Brewers, trailed when he departed, but still got the win when the Phils scored in the next inning and Doc was the pitcher of record.

Amazingly, he also became the first Philadelphia pitcher since John Denny in 1983 to win 18 games in a single season, which is hard to believe since every team except for the Rockies and Rays have had at least one 18-game winner in that span. (Jimenez became the first Colorado pitcher to ever win 18, and he just did it last week for the Rockies.)

Hey, Doc might win 20 games this year. He might win the Cy Young. But to me, it's been a disappointing year. Yes, he's 18-10 with a 2.44 ERA. He has 201 strikeouts. He leads the majors with 228.2 innings.

But remember before the season started when all the Fan 590 people were saying Roy Halladay was going to win 25 games? They were all saying Halladay was far and away the best pitcher in baseball, and after going from the tough AL East to the 'easier' National League, with inferior competition and no DH, this guy was supposed to dominate? Win 25-27 games? Wasn't he supposed to make the Phils run away with the division? Wasn't he supposed to be far superior than Cliff Lee?

Well, check the standings. As of tonight, the Phillies have just a one-game lead. Yes, he had a perfect game earlier in the year, but that was against the Marlins. And whenever he's faced the AL in interleague play, he's been brutal: 1-3 with a 5.06 ERA in four starts, getting bombed by the Yankees and Red Sox. (His only win against AL teams was versus the Blue Jays, when he tossed seven shutout innings against them.)

If he's THAT good, why does he have 10 losses? Why isn't he giving the Phillies a 10-game lead? Why isn't he approaching 30 wins?

All I can say is, he can win 20 this year, and it'll be a disappointing year. Heck, they might not even make the playoffs if the Braves, Giants, and Padres all get on hot streaks... We shall see.