Playoff Rotation Set, Potential Opponents Cringe

Phillies manager Charlie Manager confirmed his team's starting pitching rotation for the National League Division Series. Cy Young Award hopeful Roy Halladay will take the mound in game one and Roy Oswalt will go in game 2. Manuel did not name his game 3 starter, but he didn't have to. 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels remains the best option and will start game 3. If necessary, Halladay would come back for game 4, while Oswalt could start game 5.

The Phillies have home field advantage for as long as they are active in the 2010 post-season. The Phillies will play games 1, 2 (and 5, if necessary) at home, in the opening round.

Halladay is the easy choice to roll out first, as he ranks in the top 3 in each of the National League pitching triple crown categories (wins, ERA, strike outs) and is the ace of the Phillies staff. Halladay's 9 complete games are more than any other team in the National League.

Oswalt gets the nod for game 2 due to his outstanding history at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park. In 10 career starts there, Oswalt has posted a 9-0 record with a 2.10 ERA and a .208 batting average against.

Hamels has been solid of late (2.13 ERA in his last 10 starts this season), but will see his start in Saturday's game against Atlanta pushed back a day, due to a head cold. With 10 career post-season starts, Hamels is the most experienced playoff pitcher among the "H2O" trio. In those starts, Hamels has a 5-3 record and a 3.86 ERA.

The Phillies' opponent for the first round of the playoffs has not yet been determined, as the Giants, Padres and Braves battle it out for 2 remaining spots in the post-season. Despite that, Philadelphia phaithful should be extremely confident as the Phillies begin a quest to land themselves in a third consecutive World Series. In 16 combined starts since the beginning of September Halladay, Hamels and Oswalt have teamed to post 13-1 record with a 2.13 ERA.

Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee are not going by the book of unofficial baseball rules, which would generally call for breaking up the two right-handed starters by using the left-handed Hamels in between. With an extraordinary collection of pitchers (Halladay, Hamels & Oswalt have a combined 2.25 ERA since Oswalt joined the Phillies in July), there's no need to adhere to such guidelines.

_________________________________________________

Tune into 97.3 ESPN out of Millville around 1pm today to hear me talking baseball with Tyrone Johnson on The Weekend Sports Guide. 97.3 FM streams online here.

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Comments

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

PhoulBallz Q&A with Mike Stutes

Mike Stutes completes "The Reading Phils Mike Tri-fecta" over three days, here on PhoulBallz.com. Stutes, a 22 year old, was an 11th round selection by the Phillies in the 2008 amateur draft. Stutes, a right handed starting pitcher, helped lead Oregon State to the College World Series championship in both 2006 and 2007. Stutes and teammate Vance Worley are the first players to begin a season at Reading the year after being drafted since Pat Burrell did it in 1999. Stutes was the Phils' minor league pitcher of the month in August '08, when he went 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 6 starts. Check out my Q&A with the third Mike below. Can I get you to talk about the coaching staff and how they help you deal with ups and downs? They've been real positive with me. I started out good and then I hit a rough patch. They've stuck with me through it all. I haven't heard any negative words from them. Every day they try to come out, work with me, try to get me turned around...

PhoulBallz Q&A with Jordan Ellis

Jordan Ellis is currently a relief pitcher for the Single-A level affiliate of the Phillies, the Lakewood BlueClaws. Drafted in the 28th round of the 2008 amateur draft out of Villanova University, Ellis got his pro career off to a great start with a 3-0 record and 3.00 ERA for short season Williamsport in 2008. He spent time with Lakewood last year also, as he posted a 4-4 record with a 6.42 ERA in 17 games. This season, Ellis landed in the BlueClaws' closer spot after teammate Josh Zeid experienced some tough outings. Through 23 games in 2010, Ellis is 2-2 with 4 saves and a 2.73 ERA. I spoke with Jordan recently and that interview lies ahead. Jordan, you've had a solid season thus far. What do you attribute to your success thus far in 2010? The biggest thing is just trying to be consistent. I had an up and down season last year, and the biggest thing coming into this season was, obviously, to rebound and be consistent with my mechanics and on the mound. And that's really...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog