Roy Halladay

Dominic Brown- Untouchable.  Jake Diekman- Off the radar.

As the Phillies try for a sixth consecutive NL Eastern Division crown, it's obvious this season will be more challenging than the previous divisional crowns.  Injuries and age are taking their toll on this core and the latest blow, a shoulder strain to ace Roy Halladay might be too much to overcome.

Here are a few fantasy takes from the world of baseball, specifically involving Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay and the Yankees' latest reclamation project:

News: Ryan Howard likely won't return to Phillies until late May/early June

Baseball perfection is one of the most exciting, rare and unpredictable feats in all of sports. Yet here I am trying to predict who will hurl the next ultimate gem.

The last time we saw one, Roy Halladay pulled it off in a 1-0 victory over the then Florida Marlins in May of 2010. The fact that Halladay has done it so recently makes him an automatic candidate to pull it again, never mind the postseason no-no he threw that same year.

It appears as though the pitcher's era has begun.

There have been many surprises this season, and many teams have ended up with great pitching staffs.

It is very debatable which team actually has the best pitching staff.

In this article, I will give my opinion on the matter, and rank the top five staffs in the NL, along with a few honorable mentions.

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We are just a few days away from the All-Star break for the 2011 MLB season.

We've already seen some spectacular performances in the first half from expected names and some newcomers alike.

Like last season, baseball has been largely dominated by incredible pitching performances. Pitchers are going deeper into games than they have in recent memory and leaving most hitters in the dust.

There have been a few exceptions however.

With that in mind, here are the best (and just for fun, the worst) in the AL and NL this season

Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers leads the way in our group of award winner from the first half of the 2011 Major League Baseball Season.

Baseball has suddenly become dominated by pitching as there are only seven players in the entire league with at least 20 home runs.  

Roy Halladay spent 11 full seasons in Toronto (and a few starts in a 12th), so this game will be quite a homecoming.

Here is a guy who when he left Toronto took out a full-page ad in the newspaper to thank the fans and the organization for everything they had done for him.

The Philadelphia Phillies continue to lead the NL East and sit at an impressive 15-6 in the early-going. It seems highly unlikely that this team will finish the season without at least 100 wins. They have struggled to hit and yet they continue to win. They lead the NL East in runs scored with 88 and are second in BA at .265. They have shown that their lineup can play a little small-ball by being in the top five in MLB in singles since Opening Day.

On the eve of a four game sweep of the Padres, the Phillies rotation have shown fans why there has been so much buzz around them.

In this series, they held the Padres to a total of three runs—yes, three runs in four games.

Every sport has their own set of unwritten sins, for instance a left tackle not helping their quarterback up after a blindside sack, or in hockey not giving the goalie your stick after his breaks, but no sport has more unwritten rules than baseball.