Philadelphia Fever about to break out?
One of the beauties of baseball is that the game unfolds on the field, not stat sheets. If it was only a matter of paper, we could crown the Philadelphia Phillies World Series champs right now because they have the best roster in baseball. But they’re not invulnerable and they might not get out of the first round.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Cincinnati Reds
It’s too bad this is the first-round matchup as these are the two best teams in the National League.
The Phils are the defending NL champs and have such a stacked roster that one wonders how they managed to blunder into second place until August. Oh yeah—Jimmy Rollins has been hurt and didn’t play well when he wasn’t, Raul Ibanez tailed off, and Cole Hamels is a head case. Still, there aren’t any easy outs in a lineup with Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Vicctorino, and Jayson Werth, and Placido Palanco. Even young catcher Carlos Ruiz hit .302! The Phillies might be vulnerable in a long series, but who sports a better one-two staff than the Philadelphia Roys (Roy “Cy Young” Halliday and Roy Oswalt)? Get to the pen, though, and the Phillies are vulnerable—Lidge blew five saves and Madson and Romero coughed up eight between them.
The Red can also thump the ball. Joey Votto (.324, 37 HR, 113 RBIs) ought to be the runaway MVP this year, and he’s backed by Jay Bruce, a revitalized Scott Rolen, the steady Brandon Phillips, and emerging star Drew Stubbs. In a short series, though, pitching generally prevails. Arroyo (17-10) and Cueto (12-7) are decent, but they’re hardly the equals of Halliday and Oswalt. The rest of the staff is lost, mediocre, or both. Closer Francisco Cordero blew eight saves of his own and has a bad habit of making games more interesting than they should be. If the Reds pull off the upset, it will be because they club their way to victory.
Prediction: Phillies in four entertaining games.
San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves
Call this one the ho-hum series. Both teams backed into the postseason, the Braves after a late summer swoon that took them from first place to near elimination, and the Giants snuck in when the Padres fell apart. but they still needed to win their last game to avoid missing the playoffs. They are the two worst teams still playing, though baseball is crazy enough that one of them could still win the World Series.
This is the series of those that can’t hit versus those that can’t pitch. Go with pitching and pick the Giants to prevail. Their “offense” is awful once one gets past superstar-rising Buster Posey. Juan Uribe led the team in homers, for heaven’s sake, with just 24. The rest of the everyday lineup is cast offs (Huff, Ross, Renteria, Sandoval) and washouts (Rowland, Burrell, DeRosa). But the Giants’ staff led MLB in ERA. Much-maligned Barry Zito was 11-14 but his 4.15 ERA would have made him an ace on some rosters. Plus he’s number four behind reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum (16-10), Matt Cain (13-11), and Jonathan Sanchez (13-9). Closer Brian Wilson registered 48 saves.
The Braves have retiring manager Bobby Cox at the helm and a decent hitting lineup featuring Martin Prado, last-season pickup Derek Lee, Brian McCann, and Troy Glaus. Chipper Jones won’t be there, though, and stud Justin Heyward tailed off dramatically and isn’t even odds-on favorite to win Rookie of the Year anymore. It’s still more firepower than the Giants have, but the Braves start Derek Lowe (16-12) and Tim Hudson (17-9). Both are decent, but not on par with the Giants staff. After them, things get very shaky, very fast. (I’ll bet Bobby Cox would love to have Zito!)
Prediction: Giants in five.
It’s too bad this is the first-round matchup as these are the two best teams in the National League.
The Phils are the defending NL champs and have such a stacked roster that one wonders how they managed to blunder into second place until August. Oh yeah—Jimmy Rollins has been hurt and didn’t play well when he wasn’t, Raul Ibanez tailed off, and Cole Hamels is a head case. Still, there aren’t any easy outs in a lineup with Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Shane Vicctorino, and Jayson Werth, and Placido Palanco. Even young catcher Carlos Ruiz hit .302! The Phillies might be vulnerable in a long series, but who sports a better one-two staff than the Philadelphia Roys (Roy “Cy Young” Halliday and Roy Oswalt)? Get to the pen, though, and the Phillies are vulnerable—Lidge blew five saves and Madson and Romero coughed up eight between them.
The Red can also thump the ball. Joey Votto (.324, 37 HR, 113 RBIs) ought to be the runaway MVP this year, and he’s backed by Jay Bruce, a revitalized Scott Rolen, the steady Brandon Phillips, and emerging star Drew Stubbs. In a short series, though, pitching generally prevails. Arroyo (17-10) and Cueto (12-7) are decent, but they’re hardly the equals of Halliday and Oswalt. The rest of the staff is lost, mediocre, or both. Closer Francisco Cordero blew eight saves of his own and has a bad habit of making games more interesting than they should be. If the Reds pull off the upset, it will be because they club their way to victory.
Prediction: Phillies in four entertaining games.
San Francisco Giants vs. Atlanta Braves
Call this one the ho-hum series. Both teams backed into the postseason, the Braves after a late summer swoon that took them from first place to near elimination, and the Giants snuck in when the Padres fell apart. but they still needed to win their last game to avoid missing the playoffs. They are the two worst teams still playing, though baseball is crazy enough that one of them could still win the World Series.
This is the series of those that can’t hit versus those that can’t pitch. Go with pitching and pick the Giants to prevail. Their “offense” is awful once one gets past superstar-rising Buster Posey. Juan Uribe led the team in homers, for heaven’s sake, with just 24. The rest of the everyday lineup is cast offs (Huff, Ross, Renteria, Sandoval) and washouts (Rowland, Burrell, DeRosa). But the Giants’ staff led MLB in ERA. Much-maligned Barry Zito was 11-14 but his 4.15 ERA would have made him an ace on some rosters. Plus he’s number four behind reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum (16-10), Matt Cain (13-11), and Jonathan Sanchez (13-9). Closer Brian Wilson registered 48 saves.The Braves have retiring manager Bobby Cox at the helm and a decent hitting lineup featuring Martin Prado, last-season pickup Derek Lee, Brian McCann, and Troy Glaus. Chipper Jones won’t be there, though, and stud Justin Heyward tailed off dramatically and isn’t even odds-on favorite to win Rookie of the Year anymore. It’s still more firepower than the Giants have, but the Braves start Derek Lowe (16-12) and Tim Hudson (17-9). Both are decent, but not on par with the Giants staff. After them, things get very shaky, very fast. (I’ll bet Bobby Cox would love to have Zito!)
Prediction: Giants in five.
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