47-year old lefty starting pitcher Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher ever to throw a complete game shutout last night against the Atlanta Braves. He only gave up 2 hits without walking any hitters last night! Moyer was very aggressive as he had 1 three pitch inning last night and he threw 71 of his 105 pitches for strikes. The Phillies won the game 7-0 so there was never much of a thought of pulling Moyer from the game last night. He has started 6 games for the Phillies this season and he is 4-2 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has only walked 5 batters in 39 innings pitched so far this season. It appears that Moyer figures he only has so many bullets left in his gun so he is going to attack the strike zone. He now has 262 career wins in the major leagues and he can get to 300 if he keeps pitching well and can stay healthy.

38-year old righty reliever Jose Contreras has been downright nasty out of the pen for the Phillies so far this year. He has pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Phillies this season and he is 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA and a 0.60 WHIP. Contreras has only given up 4 hits in 6 2/3 innings this season as he is missing a lot of bats. He also has a stunning 12 whiffs without walking a batters showing just how much control he has had over the hitters this year. If Contreras keeps pitching like he is right now he will start pitching later in games for the Phillies.

27-year old lefty starting pitcher J.A. Happ is off to a good start this season for the Phillies. He has started 2 games for the Phillies this season and he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. Happ has only given up 9 hits in 10 1/3 innings this season but he has walked 8 batters and that is way too many. He will need to start throwing more strikes of he’s going to get into a lot of trouble this year. He looks like he might be missing his next start due to elbow and forearm soreness. With Joe Blanton already on the D.L. the Phillies can’t afford to be without Happ too long.

The Phillies had a rough time with the Florida Marlins over the weekend as they lost 2 out of three against them. Still, they are in first place in the N.L. East with a 8-4 record as they have outscored their opponents 78-49. The Phillies take their act on the road this week with three games in Atlanta followed by 3 games in Arizona. They will have to be clicking on all cylinders to handle those teams on the road.

I know that Halladay has only faced the Astros & Nationals so far this season but he has been dominating. In his first two starts for the Phillies, Halladay is 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. He already has a complete game for the Phillies and he has only given up 13 hits and walked 2 batters in 16 innings while whiffing 17 batters. Halladay is my pick for the Cy Young Award this season because he will love having the Phillies lineup backing him up in 2010. He will also like not having to face DHs in 2010 and he is swinging a good bat himself as he is 2 for 7 (.286 avg, .571 OPS) with 1 RBI. The Phillies are going to be really hard to beat in any game that Halladay starts in 2010.

37-year old Pedro Martinez seems like he has turned back the clock for the Philadelphia Phillies. Martinez has started 7 games for the Phillies and he is 5-0 with a 2.87 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP. He has allowed 35 hits in 37 2/3 innings for the Phillies while whiffing 34 batters. He also has his pinpoint control back as he has only walked 6 batters so far this season. With the Phillies behind him Pedro looks almost unbeatable and they hope he can keep up the good work.

31-year old lefty starting pitcher Cliff Lee is proving to be everything the Phillies wanted and much more. He has started 6 games for the Phillies and he is 5-1 with a 1.80 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. He has worked 45 innings for the Phillies allowing only 34 hits while whiffing 44 batters and only walking 5 for the Phillies. Lee has been a workhorse for the Phillies as he has two complete games for them already. Lee has been very aggressive in the strike zone for the Phillies and the Indians this season and the result will be a lot of wins the rest of the season and in the future.

46-year old lefty Jamie Moyer looked like he was toast during the first three months of this season, but in July he has been outstanding. Moyer has started 5 games this month and he is 4-1 with a 3.30 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. Moyer’s overall numbers however are not that impressive. He has pitched in 20 games (all starts) this season for the Phillies and he is 10-7 with a 5.32 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. Moyer has been hit hard this season allowing 131 hits (21 of them homers) in 113 1/3 innings. Still, this is Moyer’s 14th season in double figures in the win column. It will be interesting to see how long Moyer wants to pitch as he does have 256 wins in his major league career. Could he win 300? I wouldn’t bet against him as I thought he was toast a long time ago.

26-year old lefty J.A. Happ has stepped up in Brett Myers’ spot in the rotation. Happ has pitched in 20 games (8 starts) for the Phillies this season and he is 5-0 with a 2.96 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. He has only allowed 60 hits in 73 innings this season showing how good his stuff has been. The Phillies need Happ to keep up the good work if they are to win the National League East because the Marlins, Braves and Mets are right there.

45-year old lefty starting pitcher Jamie Moyer won his 11th game for the Phillies last night in San Diego beating Greg Maddux and becoming the wins leader for the Phillies this season. Moyer has started 25 games for the Phillies this season and he is 11-7 with a 3.64 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Moyer has stated that he wants to pitch until he’s 50 which means he probably has his eyes on winning 300 games which is amazing. I wouldn’t bet against Moyer getting there either as he is 77-60 since turning 40 years old after the 2002 season. Moyer has now pitched in 629 games (576 starts) in his major league career and he is 241-185 with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP which is amazing when you consider that his fastball couldn’t dent a couch.