Our pal Aaron Gleeman has a great Blue Jays essay on his blog today. I'm not just saying that because he made Batter's Box his "Link of the Day" and had nice things to say about Craig (and, to a lesser extent, me). It's a mutual admiration society, and we're grateful for the enthusiastic plug.
The piece is called "Eating Innings 101" and after a preamble about why the Jays are becoming Aaron's favourite non-Twins team, it's a fine analysis of the Toronto ace and his workload:
Roy Halladay is on pace to pitch nearly 20% of his team's innings this year, he's done some of his pitching in a 4-man rotation and he's very likely going to end the year with one of the highest innings-totals of the last 15 years. And yet, the way he is being worked - or not being worked - would make me feel more confident about him pitching 400 innings than most guys on other teams tossing 200 innings.
So far, it seems that Doc is even more economical with his pitches on three days' rest, leading me to wonder if there shouldn't be a 4-man rotation next year, or more precisely, 4.5 men, counting a spot starter. Getting 300 quality innings from your best arm, without abusing it, makes perfect sense.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20030729020910999