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Roy Halladay a headliner on 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot

Halladay pitched four seasons with the Phillies. He was elected to the Wall of Fame this past year after dying in a tragic private plane crash.

The Baseball Writers Association of America released the official 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot on Tuesday. The late Philadelphia Phillies Wall of Fame pitcher and two-time Cy Young award winner Roy Halladay was one of the first-timers appearing on the ballot.

Other notable first-timers include all-time Major League Baseball saves leader Mariano Rivera, 256-game winner Andy Pettite, and longtime Colorado Rockies star Todd Helton, who finished his career with 369 home runs and a .316 batting average.

Halladay, who pitched 1998-2009 with the Toronto Blue Jays and then 2010-13 with the Phillies, had a career record of 203-105 with a 3.38 ERA and 2,117 strikeouts.

Halladay was known for working deep into games – he led the league in complete games seven times and shutouts four times, and finished with 67 complete games, as well as 20 shutouts.

Winner of the American League Cy Young with Toronto in 2003 and then the National League Cy Young with the Phillies in 2010, Halladay also has both a perfect game and a no-hitter on his Hall of Fame résumé.

In May 2010 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Halladay faced 27 batters sent up to face him by the Florida Marlins. He retired all 27 to record the 20th perfect game in Major League Baseball history.

The no-hitter came for the Phillies against the Cincinnati Reds in the 2010 National League Division Series. It was only the second no-hitter in MLB postseason history.

Halladay was an eight-time all-star, making six appearances with the AL as a member of the Blue Jays and appearing twice with the NL representing the Phillies. He was the starting pitcher in the 2011 All-Star game.

The big right-hander finished among the top five pitchers in Cy Young Award voting seven times. Halladay also finished among the top ten in National League MVP voting in both 2010 and 2011.

Halladay spent the first twelve years of his career in Toronto before the Phillies landed him in a big trade for then-prospects Travis d’Arnaud, Kyle Drabek, and Michael Taylor.

In his first season in Philadelphia, Halladay went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA. He was even better the following year in 2011, going 19-6 with a 2.35 ERA as part of the Phillies record-setting ‘Four Aces’ rotation with Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels.

After retiring as a player, Halladay spent spring training with the Phillies as a guest instructor in 2014. He also coached his sons sports teams, and enjoyed his passion of flying. Halladay owned his own private plane and was an avid flyer.

It was in the enjoyment of that passion that Halladay would die in a plane crash in Florida. He was just 40-years-old at the time of his death. This past season, the Blue Jays retired Halladay’s uniform #32 and the Phillies enshrined him to their Wall of Fame.

In a New York Times article, Devon Travis, a second baseman with the Blue Jays, said that Halladay “…wasn’t afraid of anybody, and he sure wasn’t a guy that I would want to face, that’s for sure.”

His manager during the Phillies years, Charlie Manuel had this to say per The Morning Call after learning of Halladay’s death:

“Roy was the best competitor I’d ever seen and it was an honor to have managed him. He was not only a great pitcher, but also a great person and a tremendous father. His contributions to the Phillies can’t be measured.” ~ Charlie Manuel

as not only a great pitcher, but also a great person and a tremendous father. His contributions to the Phillies can’t be measured. Roy was like a brother to me and we remained close after his playing days.

Halladay’s accumulated value over his career is very impressive. His total bWAR added up to 65.5, and his fWAR was at the 65.2 mark. His JAWS, developed by Jay Jaffe at Baseball Prospectus in 2004 to measure a player’s Hall of Fame worthiness, finished up at the 57.5 mark.

Baseball Reference‘s Hall of Fame statistical evaluations give Halladay a reasonable chance of actually being elected to enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

Schilling has been rising among voters and has four years remaining on the BBWAA ballot.

Using the Baseball Reference ‘Gray-Ink Test‘, an average Hall of Famer reaches 185 points. Halladay finished with 180 points. B-R shows that the Bill James-created Hall of Fame Monitor gives Halladay 126 points, with an average Hall of Famer obtaining 120.

Combine the stats with Halladay’s other signature accomplishments, and he appears to be a near-lock for enshrinement. The real question may be whether he’ll become a first-ballot Hall of Famer, meaning that he would actually be elected in this, his first year on the ballot.

Halladay joins Oswalt as part of a long list of former Phillies players on the ballot. Others include ballot newcomers Michael Young, Juan Pierre, and Placido Polanco, as well as holdovers Curt Schilling, Billy Wagner, and Scott Rolen.

Schilling is considered a leading contender to eventually reach the 75% of votes needed for induction to the Hall of Fame. He received 51.2% a year ago in his sixth of 10 years on the ballot.

Wagner (11%) and Rolen (10.2%) made the cut last year in their third and first years on the ballot respectively. Both players have legitimate cases to be made for enshrinement, with Tim Kelly at Sportsradio 94 WIP making the case for Rolen today.

“Rolen seems to top the average Hall of Fame third baseman in terms of all crucial metrics. JAWS isn’t an exception, as the average Hall of Fame third baseman finished his career with a JAWS of 55.7, which is less than the 56.9 JAWS that Rolen finished his career with.”

Let’s take a brief look at the former Phillies aside from Halladay who are also new to the ballot, in order of their career JAWS marks.

ROY OSWALT: 45.2 JAWS

Oswalt pitched with four teams over a 13-year big-league career, finishing with a 163-102 record and a 3.36 ERA. The righty was a three-time NL All-Star and two-time 20-game winner.

Oswalt was acquired at the midpoint of the 2010 season by the Phillies from the Houston Astros. He went 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA and helped the club return to the NL championship series. Oswalt was beset by injuries in 2011 but still managed to start 23 games and pitch to a 3.69 ERA.

The 2005 National League Championship Series MVP, Oswalt won the league’s ERA title in 2006. He had a career bWAR of 50.0 and finished with a 45.2 JAWS mark.

PLACIDO POLANCO: 36.9 JAWS

Polanco, a two-time All-Star, played 16 years in the big-leagues with four teams. He had two stints with the Phillies, the first as a second baseman from 2002-2005, and then as a third baseman from 2010-2012. Polanco was traded to the Phillies by the Saint Louis Cardinals in exchange for Rolen in 2002. He then was traded away by the Phillies to the Detroit Tigers in 2005 in order for the Phillies to make way for Chase Utley.

Defense was one of Polanco’s calling cards. He won three gold gloves, two at second base with Detroit and one at third base with the Phillies. He was a clutch performer who led the Tigers to the 2006 American League pennant as the ALCS Most Valuable Player. Detroit would lose the World Series that year to Rolen and the Cardinals.

Polanco’s batting was also impressive: he had a career .297 batting average and recorded 2,142 hits. In the advanced stats, he accumulated a bWAR of 41.5 and finished with a 36.9 JAWS mark. Polanco signed a one-day contract to officially retire as a member of the Phillies organization.

MICHAEL YOUNG: 23.0 JAWS

The Phillies acquired Michael Young when he was nearing the end of his career, and he contributed a .276 average with eight homers and 42 RBI in that 2013 season.

A seven-time AL All-Star, Young became a franchise icon of the Texas Rangers where he starred from 2000-2012. Over his career, Young hit for a .300 average with 2,375 hits, 185 home runs, and 1.030 RBI. Young had a bWAR of 24.6, and a final 23.0 JAWS mark before finishing his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

JUAN PIERRE: 16.9 JAWS

Juan Pierre played with the Phillies for just one season during a 13-year career which spanned the years 2000-2013 and led him to six different organizations. In that 2012 season with the Phillies, the speedy Pierre made his presence felt with a .307 average and 37 stolen bases.

The outfielder stole 614 bases over his career, finishing with an overall batting average of .295 and with 2,217 hits. Pierre led the league in stolen bases three times. Twice he finished among the top-20 for NL MVP voting, and he also finished sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year vote in 2000. Pierre finished his career with a bWAR of 17.1 and had a final 16.9 JAWS mark.

Rivera is widely considered as the leading newcomer candidate for enshrinement to the Hall of Fame.

Other newcomer standouts on the ballot include Yankees reliever Rivera, perhaps the nearest thing to a first-ballot lock this year, and Pettitte, his longtime Yankees pitching staff mate. Big hitters Helton and Lance Berkman are also first-timers on this ballot.

Rivera was a 13-time AL All-Star with the New York Yankees. He became the MLB all-time leader with 652 saves. Pettitte had a career record of 256-153. He made three All-Star games and has an American League Championship Series MVP to his name. The lefty finished in the top-five of Cy Young voting four different times.

Helton, a five-time NL All-Star with the Colorado Rockies, had 369 career homers and a .316 batting average along with 2,519 hits and 1,406 RBI. Helton finished in the top-20 in NL MVP voting six times, three times in the top 10. Berkman was a six-time All-Star who bashed 366 home runs and produced 1,234 RBI over his career, which also included 1,905 hits.

Leading contenders for enshrinement this time around among the holdovers from prior years would appear to be Edgar Martinez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Mike Mussina. Results of the voting will be announced by the BBWAA in mid-January of 2019.