Roy Halladay

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Phillies' angst-o-meter had been turned off during the first four weeks of spring training. Ryan Howard was playing every day, Chase Utley said his knees felt fine, and Roy Halladay's most memorable moment was a purpose pitch he threw behind the back of Washington's Tyler Moore last week. No reason to worry here. Until now. In his fourth Grapefruit League start Tuesday at Bright House Field, Halladay had a lifeless fastball that topped out around 87 m.p.h.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Roy Halladay talked for quite some time after his turbulent 2 2/3 innings Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers. He insisted that his lack of velocity and loss of command could all be dismissed as by-products of a tired arm and body. He had a different workout routine this offseason and threw two bullpens between his March 6 start against Washington and his infamous March 12 assignment against the Tigers. He was overcome by lethargy. Manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee weighed in, too. In expressing his concern, Manuel also said he still had to keep sending Halladay out there because the pitcher insisted he was healthy.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The pitching schedule posted inside the home clubhouse at Bright House Field ends with Wednesday. But with a week's worth of games still remaining on the Grapefruit League schedule, pitchers will pitch. It's just unclear when Roy Halladay will return to the mound. Halladay, who left his start Sunday after one inning because of a stomach illness, reported to the ballpark Monday but was sent home shortly thereafter. "He's still sick," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said upon his arrival for Monday's game against the Atlanta Braves.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The new reality for Roy Halladay started well before 10:59 a.m. Saturday, when he launched an 89 m.p.h. fastball on a back field at the Carpenter Complex. Each time Halladay threw, pitching prospect Jonathan Pettibone clicked the radar-gun trigger. He tilted it so pitching coach Rich Dubee could see the two digits. This happened 81 times Saturday while Blue Jays minor-leaguers smashed Halladay's sinkers and cutters. The first digit of the velocity reading was nine just once or twice.

LAKELAND, Fla. - The Phillies went into spring training hoping they would have a potent combination at the top of the rotation. After Wednesday, they know they at least are leaving Florida with their No. 1 starter still packing a nasty left uppercut that can take apart any team in baseball, with the possible exception of the Dominican Republic all-star team that won the World Baseball Classic. "That lineup was ridiculous," Cole Hamels said after making his final Grapefruit League start Wednesday against another loaded batting order.

A text message awaited Roy Halladay on Monday night. Again, he had failed when 99 pitches from his right arm yielded seven runs over four innings in a 7-2 Phillies loss to the New York Mets. He slammed the ball in his glove before surrendering it and kicked at the mound dirt with both feet. "You are my hero," the text message said. It was sent by Braden, his 12-year-old son. For a moment, Halladay cracked a smile. He craves perspective during his most trying days as a professional athlete.

ATLANTA - Charlie Manuel raised his left arm at 8:38 p.m. Wednesday and looked to the bullpen. The steady rain that dampened Turner Field persisted. The gloom extended north to Philadelphia. With one out in the fourth inning of a 9-2 Phillies loss to Atlanta, Roy Halladay capitulated. He ditched the weapons that, for a decade, armed a dominant pitcher. When Halladay threw his fastball, Braves hitters mashed it. The constant diet of off-speed pitches elicited strikeouts, but at the cost of a rising pitch count.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The T-shirts and jerseys that engulfed the ballpark on a St. Patrick's Day Sunday afternoon were greener than the freshly cut grass at Bright House Field. But when Roy Halladay didn't return to his perch on the mound in the middle of the field for the second inning of the Phillies' game against the Baltimore Orioles, those green tops might as well have turned into blinking red lights. Panic. Halladay, whose right arm is the biggest key to the Phillies' rebounding from a .500 season to return the postseason, has had a bit of a bad week.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It's the second full week of March, which means three things are happening in Florida: spring breakers are arriving en masse, everyone is Irish for a day and baseball fans are wondering what's happening with Roy Halladay. On March 14, 2012, Halladay had his pitches tattooed by the Minnesota Twins. He gave up five runs, including two home runs, and exited before recording the third out of the third inning. Afterward, scouts speculated that his stuff wasn't sharp or crisp and that his velocity was down.

LAKELAND, Fla. - The 18th pitch Roy Halladay threw in his first exhibition game of 2013 landed on the wrong side of the fence, at least from the perspective of the people not rooting for the host Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium on Sunday. The cutter didn't cut the way Halladay had hoped - "It backed up on me" - and the result was a solo home run for four-time All-Star Victor Martinez. Like Halladay, Martinez had a lost season in 2012, missing its entirety with a knee injury.