Skip to main content

Playoff Rotation Set, Potential Opponents Cringe

By
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.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kendrick & LaGrossa- Second Phils/Survivor Marriage

By
On Saturday, Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick married 3-time Survivor contestant and former Flyers employee Stephenie LaGrossa. The couple exchanged vows in front of 105 guests at the Silverado Resort in Napa, California. Their special day featured many personalized aspects, including cocktail hour snacks modeled in the fashion of mini Philly cheesesteaks, as well as the couple's two dogs, Bebe and Champ, serving as flower girl and ring bearer during the ceremony. The pets wore a white dress and a tuxedo, respectively. Kendrick is now the second Phillies pitcher to marry a former contestant of the CBS reality competition program, as lefty Cole Hamels wedded Heidi Strobel, who appeared on the sixth season of Survivor, in 2007. _________________________________________________________________ Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter, for updates, stats and info, by clicking HERE . Photos- People.com
Post a Comment
Read more

Michael Taylor Q&A

By
Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...
2 comments
Read more

Mixed Feelings: De Fratus Expresses Himself

By
It was a wild and frenzied finish for several teams as the regular season wound down. While some clubs faltered, seeing their seasons come to an end, others triumphed and advanced to the playoffs. Whether it was a collapse or a significant comeback, countless states of mind resulted from the memorable final weeks of the season. Exhilaration, disappointment, confusion, hysteria and disgust could all be used to detail how players and fans all around baseball felt. For one young player, that list of feelings varies a bit but is likely just as long when describing his big league debut and the subsequent two weeks. EXCITEMENT Rookie hurler Justin De Fratus , who just two years ago was a member of the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws South Atlantic League championship team, pitched a scoreless 12th inning to not only notch his very first big league victory, but to put his name in the history books, as the Phillies won their franchise record 102nd game. De Fratus found himself the pitcher of re...
Post a Comment
Read more