Roy

Halladay

He may be a little bit rusty, and with the Yankees’ motivated to play well with the Red Sox breathing down their backs, we recommend you hold off activating Halladay until after Tuesday’s start.

Smart move, but the bigger problem is who will start for Toronto behind Halladay in 2004. It’s unlikely they will meet Kelvim Escobar’s demands, and Cory Lidle is not expected to be brought back. That leaves the Jays looking at Mark Hendrickson, Josh Towers, Pete Walker, Corey Thurman and a handful of minor leaguers on the way up.

“I probably threw 12 or 13 and all of them were for strikes,” Halladay said following his outing yesterday. “I wanted to throw it in pretty much every situation (as far as counts go) and I got to do that.” Halladay doesn’t plan to throw quite so many changeups during the season, but he believes the pitch will be a weapon.

Halladay will get the start Tuesday, while Sturtze moves back to Wednesday. The pitchers had been scheduled for the opposite days. They still both face the Rangers, so this is of little importance.

Halladay has missed two starts with shoulder tendinitis. He should be fine, though his owners have to hope the Blue Jays will be careful with their ace who has thrown 239 and 266 innings the last two seasons.

Halladay is still scheduled to open a two-game series with the Yankees on Wednesday, but there is concern over Halladay’s shoulder issues. “No, there’s nothing as of yet. We talked to him (Friday) to see how he is, but as of right now, he’s still scheduled to make his next start,” manager Carlos Tosca said last night. If Halladay’s shoulder is bothering him as he has mentioned, the Jays would be better served to preserve their ace right-hander and shut him down until he is fully recovered. We will see if they make the sensible move.

Even if Dr. Andrews finds no serious damage in Halladay’s right shoulder today, the Jays suspect that Halladay may have “some fraying in some of the five different muscle groups that conjoin in his shoulder area”. The best case scenario at this point is for Halladay to sit out until the begining of August.

''We’re going to back him off,’' manager John Gibbons said. ''He is still not where we think he needs to be. He still has not done any fielding drills. He thinks he can go but we don’t think it makes sense.’' Josh Towers will start Sunday against the Yankees, leaving Halladay disappointed. ''It’s a big series for us and it would have been nice just getting back,’' he said. ''It’s just going to be a day-to-day thing and maybe having a couple of off days will help.’'

Halladay, out with a fractured leg, will pitch five innings in a simulated game Wednesday and take some fielding practice.

Halladay has been throwing off a mound, but is not ready to field his position. ''We figure it’s another seven to 10 days, to be on the safe side,’' general manager J.P. Ricciardi said.