{"id":805,"date":"2010-09-27T23:24:37","date_gmt":"2010-09-28T03:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=805"},"modified":"2010-09-27T23:24:37","modified_gmt":"2010-09-28T03:24:37","slug":"key-questions-for-week-after-another-division-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/?p=805","title":{"rendered":"Key Questions for Week after ANOTHER Division Title"},"content":{"rendered":"
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He'll Take the Ball in Game 1<\/p><\/div>\n

On Monday night, as everyone knows, the Phils clinched their fourth consecutive NL East title.\u00a0 How impressive is that?\u00a0 How about this stat:\u00a0\u00a0the Phils have just become the third team in NL history to make\u00a04 consecutive post-season appearances.\u00a0\u00a0 Also, considering they clinched with 5 games still to play and little drama involved, it’s easy to forget that two months ago it looked like just making the playoffs would be a tough haul, let alone chasing down the Braves and taking the division.<\/p>\n

In lieu of any more semi-weekly report cards, it’s time to shift our focus fully to the post-season.\u00a0 The Phils are right on the verge of clinching the best record in the NL, which almost certainly means that they will be starting the playoffs a week from Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park.\u00a0 Let’s take a look at some of\u00a0the key questions Phils fans should be following over the next week:<\/p>\n

What will the rotation look like?\u00a0 <\/strong>Not only was it a pleasure to watch Roy Halladay deal a two-hit shutout on Monday, but it also kept Charlie Manuel and Rich Dubee from having to make any tough decisions regarding their Game 1 starter.\u00a0 Halladay had been struggling (by his standards) of late, but his dismantling of the Nationals (even though it was the Ryan Zimmerman-less Nationals) seals the deal for him as the first pitcher to take the mound in the playoffs.\u00a0 This also means that Halladay’s regular season is finished, though he’ll need to stay sharp with\u00a0a side session or two\u00a0over the next 8 days.\u00a0 It’s obviously a luxury to be able to get him some needed rest.<\/p>\n

My guess is that Hamels will go in Game 2, followed by Oswalt.\u00a0 I absolutely agree with that order for a 7-game series, because I’d love to hand the ball to Oswalt for a potential Game 7, but for a 5-game series I’m not completely sure.\u00a0 Either way, I think it will be Hamels in Game 2, and I have no problem with that.<\/p>\n

What’s up with Rollins?:\u00a0 <\/strong>All indications are that Jimmy will be in the starting line-up on Tuesday night, and for the remaining four games after that.\u00a0 One of the most important aspects of these last five games is Rollins\u00a0getting back into the flow, and the coaching staff evaluating what they have in him.\u00a0 The\u00a0guess here is that\u00a0Victorino is in the lead-off spot to stay, and that Rollins will be hitting 7th, and maybe flip-flopping with Ibanez up to the 6-hole against lefties.<\/p>\n

Who’s on the playoff roster<\/strong>?:\u00a0 For the 5-game series, it will almost certainly be just 11 pitchers.\u00a0 Besides the three starters, Joe Blanton will be there.\u00a0 He could potentially slot into the bullpen and bump Durbin down a notch, but most likely he’ll be a just-in-case long man\/extra starter.\u00a0\u00a0Lidge, Madson, Contreras, and Romero will also be there.\u00a0 That leaves two more spots to be filled by Bastardo, Herndon, Kendrick, or Baez.\u00a0 I’d go with Bastardo and Kendrick, but a case could be made for the other two.\u00a0 This could be decided by how these four guys pitch in these final five games.<\/p>\n

That leaves room for 14 position players.\u00a0 Besides the 8 starters, Valdez, Schneider, Gload, and Francisco are locks.\u00a0 That leaves two spots for Sweeney, Dobbs, and Brown.\u00a0 Honestly, none of these three brings much to the table.\u00a0 I guess Sweeney should be on because of his veteran leadership and to give one more right-handed bat.\u00a0 Dobbs and Brown is a tough call.\u00a0 They’ve both done nothing, and Brown has been (not surprisingly) lost as a pinch-hitter.\u00a0 Brown brings the speed, but is he really a good base-runner at this point?\u00a0 Dobbs brings the experience.\u00a0 Again, could be determined in these 5 games.<\/p>\n

Who do we want to play in the LDS?:\u00a0 <\/strong>With just 5 games left, there are still three potential first-round foes for the Phils:\u00a0 San Francisco, San Diego, and Cincinnati.\u00a0 We’ll certainly take a closer look at these teams next week but for now I most want to play the Padres, followed by the Reds, and then the Giants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Giants as least appealing opponent is a no-brainer.\u00a0 Tim Lincecum has been back to his old self in September, Matt Cain has been lights out for months, and Jonathan Sanchez has a sub-1.00 ERA in September.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0Phils have the better line-up, but\u00a0the Giant line-up isn’t the pushover that many think it is, especially with Buster Posey raking in the middle of it.\u00a0 It’s not hard to imagine Phillie-Giant games coming down to the bullpen, and they have an\u00a0advantage there.\u00a0 The Giants\u00a0should scare you right now if you’re a Phils fan.<\/p>\n

Reds or Padres is a fairly tough call, but I want the Padres because their starting pitchers, who are so important to their success, appear to have hit the wall.\u00a0 Mat Latos is the ace of the staff, but he’s young and appears to have run out of gas.\u00a0 Jon Garland and Clayton Richard are solid pitchers, but they’re pretty average away from Petco Park.\u00a0 Yes, the Padre bullpen is absolutely lethal, but with their anemic offense and faltering starting pitching, I don’t think the bullpen will be able to play much of a factor.<\/p>\n

The Reds are somewhat opposites to the Padres.\u00a0 They lead the NL in runs scored, led by likely MVP Joey Votto.\u00a0 But there is nothing resembling an ace on the staff, with Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto leading the way.\u00a0 Aroldis Chapman is certainly an added weapon to their bullpen, but Francisco Cordero has had a sub-par season in the closer role, and the rest of the pen just doesn’t really scare you much.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday night, as everyone knows, the Phils clinched their fourth consecutive NL East title.\u00a0 How impressive is that?\u00a0 How about this stat:\u00a0\u00a0the Phils have just become the third team in NL history to make\u00a04 consecutive post-season appearances.\u00a0\u00a0 Also, considering … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[222,177,14,204,16,695,309,322],"class_list":["post-805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb","tag-cole-hamels","tag-giants","tag-jimmy-rollins","tag-padres","tag-phillies","tag-reds","tag-roy-halladay","tag-roy-oswalt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=805"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":807,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805\/revisions\/807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/broadstreetbelievers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}