Roy Halladay

Halladay showed signs of mortality last season after a long run of domination. His velocity dipped 1.4 mph and he missed significant time due to a lat strain in his shoulder. Despite those issues, Halladay's FIP of 3.79 indicates his 2012 season wasn't as bad as it looked on the surface. His K/9 dipped to 7.6 last season, but that was more in line with his 2008-10 seasons than the 8.5 K/9 he posted in 2011. His 65 percent strand rate also contributed to his high ERA. We expect that to rebound toward his career average this season if he is healthy. Halladay also saw his BB/9 jump from 1.35 in 2011 to 2.07 in 2012, but that remains a very good ratio compared to most major league starters. The long ball was also more of a problem for Halladay last season than it has been in recent years. He saw his groundball rate drop below 50 percent for the first time in his career, which may have been partially to blame for the home runs. Halladay concentrated more on core and lower-body work over the offseason in an attempt to compensate for his shoulder. Since no surgery was performed, the injury could still pop up again. That makes Halladay a health risk this year. He'll likely come at a discount because of that risk and the poor surface stats from 2012, but that could make him a nice value given his previous three seasons.

What else can be said about Halladay that hasn't been said already? He is the best pitcher in baseball in the eyes of many, and his numbers are consistently excellent. He'll be 35 in May, but there are no apparent signs of decline yet. In fact, his K/9IP rate rose a bit last season, and he was a touch unlucky thanks to a .311 BABIP. Manager Charlie Manuel doesn't have any problem letting Halladay complete games, so you can expect plenty of innings, wins and strikeouts with excellent ratios again this season.

NL Cy Young, perfect game, and no hitter in the playoffs - not bad for a first season with a new club, in a new league. Halladay was everything the Phillies expected and more after they obtained him from the Blue Jays. Halladay saw his strikeout totals jump up in the NL but his strikeout rate basically held steady from his 2009 season. He cut back on his walks and posted an amazing 1.1 BB/9IP ratio over his career-high 250.2 regular season innings. Typically that workload would be a cause for concern, but Halladay is one of the best conditioned pitchers in baseball. He hasn't pitched fewer than 200 innings since 2005, and should be one of the first pitchers off draft boards again this season.

Halladay had another fantastic season for the Jays including a career-high 208 strikeouts, a remarkable run that dates back to 2002. Toronto chose to trade him to the Phillies for a trio of prospects in December, so Halladay escapes the AL East, but lands in a hitter-friendly home park. We still expect Cy Young caliber performances from him, and his bids for individual and team hardware will be stronger as he'll have an excellent chance at winning 20-plus games with a better team behind him in Philadelphia.

Halladay would have picked up his second Cy Young award if aliens hadn't inhabited Cliff Lee's body, but he did manage to snag his third straight top-five finish in the balloting. He's an absolute stud and the AL's best pitcher despite pitching in the minefield that is the AL East. He's efficient enough to not worry about the innings pitched (246) and led the league with nine complete games. Halladay will remain among the elite starters in the game for the foreseeable future.

Halladay still managed 225 innings and 31 starts despite a case of appendicitis in early May. He won't likely ever get back to his 2002-03 levels, but his post-break numbers (116.1 innings, 71 K, 3.02 ERA and 1.221 WHIP) project well over a full season. His "pitch to contact" approach has cleared him from his injury-shortened 2004 and 2005 seasons, and he's all but a given for 200-innings and 15-plus wins.

Halladay was sidelined by a forearm injury down the stretch, but still managed to throw 220 innings, his highest total since 2003. He's made a conscious effort to reduce his pitch count, which resulted in just 132 K on the season. The 5.4 K/9 rate was the first time since 2002 it has been less than 6.32. While it doesn't sound like much, that's a pretty significant hit to his 5x5 values. He had just four wins in 14 starts after the All-Star break despite solid numbers so there's a 20-win season hidden under the covers. The forearm injury was considered minor, so he should be back healthy for the start of the season.

Halladay flirted with comeback attempts from the broken leg he suffered in July, but never returned to the mound. He's expected to be at full strength to start the 2006 season and be near the top of the Cy Young race again. His pre-injury 2005 numbers were vintage Halladay.

The 500 IP he racked up the previous two seasons finally caught up with Halladay in 2004 as he struggled with a shoulder injury for much of the year. He was limited to 133 IP, but did return late in the campaign to manage a confidence-building eight-inning effort against the Yankees for his final start. The 260-inning workload is a thing of the past, but he can still be counted on for elite performance with a lighter burden.

Halladay is the AL's best starter. He was unusually charitable with the long ball, yielding 26 in 266 innings after allowing just 10 in 240 innings the year before. He went winless in April, which makes a nice reminder note next season when your studs get off to slow starts. Everything you want out of a roto ace: innings-eater, economical with his pitchers and durable.

An unfortunate meltdown early in the season against Texas (seven earned runs in 4.1 innings) prevented him from posting sub-4.00 ERAs in every month of the season (a 3.24 ERA August marked his worst month outside of April). His K/9 rate suffered down the stretch with the added innings, but Toronto did a good job of giving him extra rest down the stretch as he chased 20 wins. Should be considered right there with Oakland's trio and Pedro Martinez when talking about the AL's best starters in 5x5 leagues.