WEDNESDAY ROUNDUP: Roy En Route, Farm System? Not So Much

AUDIO (CSN Philly): Carlos Ruiz: Inspirational. (So long as he's not nervous.) Also shorthand for "comfort" for Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon, both of whom were pretty pumped to be able to work with him for the bottom of the AL order in the seventh (Hamels) and for the last out of the game (Papelbon). Hamels called it "probably the most comfortable feeling you can have." Papelbon not only said it was "special" but half-glowed, half-winced at the thought of how bad off the Phils would be without him.

Also: Hamels, on straight scorching the radar gun. And Papelbon, dreading being the guy that let the AL crack the goose egg.

AWESOME (NY Post): Deron Williams consummates his crazy cash haul from Brooklyn (five years, $98 million) -- on his iPad.

SCRIPTUALS (Bill Shaikin, LA Times): Clayton Kershaw goes "LeBron James in Beijing: 2008" with LA pitch to Cole Hamels at the All-Star Game.

SCRIPTUALS (Ryan Lawrence, Delco Times): Roy Halladay is en route. Thank God.

SCRIPTUALS (Philly.com Philles Coverage Staff): Here's the Inky's list of the Phillies top 25 prospects. Cross-reference that with Keith Law's preseason top 100, and weep. (Trevor May, No. 76 the only one to make the cut. Travis D'Arnaud (No. 6), Jonathan Singleton (No. 46) and Anthony Gose (No. 59) did. And are doing well.

SCRIPTUALS (Chris Tomasson, FOX): Seems Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh weren't the only hoopsters LeBron bromanced in Beijing in 2008. The other? Doug Collins.

SCRIPTUALS (Joe Lemire, SI): So... Is the point of the MLB All-Star Game to entertain? Or to set the competitive edge in the sport's final? Hmm...

STATISTICALS: Roy Halladay is expected to begin an official rehab assignment in Class-A Clearwater Thursday. Per league rules, he's got 20 days (or until August 1) to get back in the majors or to the DL. Expectation is that he'll be back July 17 for Game 5 of the second half against the Dodgers, six days into his rehab assignment. Took Chase Utley 16 days (began June 12, activated June 27), Ryan Howard nine days (began June 28, activated July 6).

STATISTICALS: Halladay was placed on the DL May 28, the Phillies announced he'd miss 6-8 weeks. This past Sunday (June 8) marked Week 6. July 22 marks Week 8.

STATISTICALS (Ryan Lawrence, Delco Times): The Phils have gone 12-26 without Halladay. During that six-week span, no team in baseball has a worse record than the Phillies. ... Since Halladay went down: (1) Hamels and Cliff Lee are a combined 4-6 with a 4.76 ERA in 15 starts after May 27, (2) Phillies starting pitchers have a 5.03 ERA in 38 games.

STATISTICALS (Ryan Lawrence, Delco Times):

STATISTICALS (Bob Cooney, Philly.com): Two seasons ago, Dorrell Wright (acquired Tuesday from Golden State for rights to a previous draft pick playing overseas) made 194 of 516 (37.6 percent) three-pointers, both NBA highs. He also averaged 16.4 points that season. This past season, Wright averaged 10.3 points and went 105-for-292 from three-point range (36 percent). He has missed only one game the past two seasons, starting each of the other 143.

STATISTICALS (Jason Lisk, The Big Lead):

(Follow-up: It was Irving Fryar, in 1997.)

ON THIS DAY:

1914 - Babe Ruth debuted in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox.

1985 - Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros became the first major league pitcher to earn 4,000 strikeouts in a career.

1987 - Bo Jackson signed a contract to play football for the L.A. Raiders for 5 years. He was also continued to play baseball for the Kansas City Royals.

1994 - Shawn Eckardt was sentenced in Portland, OR, to 18 months in prison for his role in the attack on figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.