Head on over to http://broadstreetbelievers.podbean.com to stream or download the new BSB Podcast, in which we preview the Phillies-Dodgers NLCS.
Bry and Doogan discuss the formidable Dodger bullpen, the ongoing questions/decisions surrounding the Phillie pitching staff, and give predictions for the series.
And, check in on BSB Thursday night during Game 1 for a live blog.
LATEST NEWS: Chan Ho Park and Eric Bruntlett are ON the NLCS roster, replacing Brett Myers and Kyle Kendrick, as the team goes with 11 pitchers instead of 12. Park over Kendrick was a no-brainer, as Park has been on the Phils’ best relievers this season. Bruntlett back on is a bit surprising, but 11 pitchers is probably all that’s really needed in a post-season series. The team probably decided they wanted an extra position player, and even though Bruntlett isn’t very good, at least he can play every position, can run the bases well, and has been here before.
ALSO, all indications are that Pedro Martinez will get the Game 2 start tomorrow afternoon. Again, I would go with Joe Blanton, but I have enough trust in Charlie at this point to believe he knows what he’s doing. Interesting article about it on phillies.com though, in which Charlie and Rich Dubee say Pedro threw the ball well in a simulated game on Tuesday, but Pedro sounds anything but pleased with how he did.
The Dodgers have made an even bigger surprise move with their Game 2 starter, announcing that our old friend Vicente Padilla will take the hill, followed by Hiroki Kuroda in Game 3, and Randy Wolf in Game 4. This seems like a mistake to me, and a break for the Phils. I know Wolf isn’t great, but he’s better than Padilla, especially against this line-up. The book on Padilla has always been that he can’t get lefties out, and he’ll be facing a fierce line-up in which 5 of the best 6 hitters will be swinging from the left-side of the plate.
Nice job with the podcast! Cim sounded like he was calling from a cave in Afghanistan.
Thanks O’Neill. Yeah, our technology is not top-notch, but hopefully good enough.
And to correct a mistake I made in the podcast: there’s actually off-days after Game 4 of the LCS’s, so Burnett would be
pitching on full rest in Game 5 for the Yankees. I was thinking there were only off-days after Game 2 and Game 5.
Also, we talked about what the Dodgers do with Ethier when they face a lefty. Well, when they faced Jorge De La Rosa and the
Rockies on the last weekend of the season, with the division still undecided, Ethier wasn’t even in the line-up! Kemp played
right, with Juan Pierre in center, with Kemp batting third. And a few days before that, against a lefty starter for the
Padres, Ethier hit 7th, with Manny 3rd and Kemp 4th. So, hard to say exactly what the line-up will look like tonight, but it
seems pretty unlikely that Ethier will be in the middle of the order.
Just from what I hear about the Dodgers thinking on Padilla vs. Wolf. They decided that they wanted Padilla to throw twice in the series, and they wanted both starts to be at home because they do not trust his “mental makeup” to do with the weather conditions and, more specifically, the fans in Philadelphia. They believe that the experienced Wolf would handle Philly better than Padilla, even if it means only pitching Wolf once in the series. The only thing I agree with in regards to this move is that Padilla has an atrocious “mental makeup.”
On a related note, can someone please tell me how Chad Billingsley can have 22 quality starts this year and lose out in the rotation to Vicente Padilla and Randy Wolf? I really don’t get it.
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