Overlooked in all the hyperventilation, though, was the fact that some guy named Roy Halladay was starting for the Phillies. And the big righthander, once again, was the steak. In the Phillies' seventh straight win, 7-1 over the Diamondbacks, he turned in his major league-leading eighth complete game. He has allowed zero or one run in four of his last five starts.
With all due respect to Brown, who has the earmarks of being a phenomenal young talent and had a fabulous debut, the Phillies' hopes of surviving the continuing spate of injuries that has bedeviled the two-time National League champions lie elsewhere.
Halladay and the rest of the rotation will have a much greater impact on whether this team will be invited back to the big dance when all is said and done.
It comes down to pitching. It always comes down to pitching.
That's why, even while the offense was on its gently meandering, seemingly never-ending, search for tomorrow for 2 months earlier this season, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. remained primarily focused on the possibility of adding more and better arms.
That's why, with the clock ticking down to the nonwaiver trading deadline at 4 p.m. Saturday, most of the rumors that are attached to the Phillies involve fortifying the staff. Ted Lilly was the latest name to be spit out of the rumor mill yesterday. A scout was believed to be taking a hard look at Cleveland's Fausto Carmona last night. And Roy Oswalt talks are said to be heating up.
The bottom-line question: Is this rotation, as it's currently constructed, good enough to give the Phils a chance to play deep into October and maybe even the first week of November?
The answer from this modest but neatly furnished ivory tower: Absolutely, positively maybe.
