NLCS Preview – Phillies vs. Giants

Doctober Continues

This series certainly is not short on storylines. Pat Burrell returns back to Philadelphia once again to face his former teammates in the NLCS, Aaron Rowand also returns, albeit in a bench role with the Giants, to face his former team. Rowand was one of the more important players in changing the culture of the Phillies clubhouse during his tenure in Philadelphia. His amazing catch in centerfield where he shattered his face will be burned in the memory of Philadelphia fan’s forever. Burrell, on the other hand, went out on top with a World Championship. After being released by the Tampa Bay Rays, Burrell has been rejuvenated by signing with his home town team. It will be interesting to see how he is received now that this is a meaningful playoff game.

As excited as all the fans in the area are to see this series, I think it is safe to say the hitters are not all that giddy. The amount of quality arms that will be taking the hill in this series is unimaginable. Of course nothing is official yet, but barring any unforeseen circumstances, the rotation below will be what the two teams go to war with.

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Game one seems to be one of the better match-ups in recent memory as Roy Halladay will take on Tim Lincecum. In Halladay’s first start of the this years playoffs and the first of his career, all he did was throw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. Lincecum threw a complete game shutout while striking out 14. The Phillies do have a good history against Matt Cain, whether that continues or not, we will find out. Oswalt has been spectacular since coming over to the Phillies and appears to be rejuvenated by the Pennant Race. In game three, the Phillies will have their hands full with Jonathon Sanchez. Last time the Phillies faced Sanchez, he took a shutout into the 9th inning and was lifted after a 1 out single. Cole Hamels was roughed up in his last meeting with the Giants, allowing 5 runs. It has not been determined whether Joe Blanton or Madison Bumgarner will even pitch in this series but going off of recent history, I am assuming both Bochy and Manuel will opt to use 4 starters in this series. Bumgarner is almost a side armed lefty that could give the Phillies some issues, as they have a plethora of left-handed hitters. Blanton has post-season experience and he has been very solid down the stretch for the Phillies.

This series is going to be a lot closer than many of the experts think, in my opinion. The two pitching staffs match-up pretty evenly and the Giants lineup, although not too dangerous, does have a history of success against the Phillies’ starters. On April 26^th, the Giants tagged Halladay for 5 runs on 10 hits in seven innings, and the Phillies have defeated each of the Phillies’ top three pitchers at least once this season. The Giants have actually defeated Roy Oswalt three times on the season, all while Oswalt was with Houston. On the other hand, Matt Cain has an era over 8.00 over the last 3 years against the Phillies.

The Bullpens could wind up being the difference in this series, and the Giants’ have the obvious edge there. The Giants have the best closer in baseball this season in Brian Wilson and a plethora of hard throwing arms in the pen with microscopic ERAs. Brad Lidge will anchor the back end for the Phillies and he has been terrific in the second half. Ryan Madson has been very reliable in the 8^th inning as well. In reality, with the starters for both squads, we shouldn’t see too many different arms coming out of the pen. All of these starters tend to go very deep into games.

Rotations:

Roy Halladay (21-10 2.44 ERA) Tim Lincecum (16-10 3.43 ERA)

Roy Oswalt (13-13 2.76 ERA) Matt Cain (13-11 3.14 ERA)

Cole Hamels (12-11 3.06 ERA) Jonathon Sanchez (13-9 3.07 ERA)

Joe Blanton (9-6 4.82 ERA) Madison Bumgarner (7-6 3.00 ERA)

Bullpens:

Brad Lidge (2.96 ERA 27 Saves) Brian Wilson (1.81 ERA 48 Saves)

Ryan Madson (2.55 ERA) Sergio Romo ( 2.18 ERA)

Jose Contreras (3.34 ERA) Santiago Casilla (1.95 ERA)

Chad Durbin (3.80 ERA) Javier Lopez ( 2.34 ERA)

Lineups: (AVG/HR/RBI)

Shane Victorino (.259 18 69) Andres Torres (.268 16 63)

Placido Polanco (.298 6 52) Freddy Sanchez (.292 7 47)

Chase Utley (.275 16 65) Aubrey Huff (.290 26 86)

Ryan Howard (.276 31 108) Buster Posey (.305 18 67)

Jayson Werth (.296 27 85) Pat Burrell (.266 20 51)

Jimmy Rollins (.243 8 41) Juan Uribe (.248 24 85)

Raul Ibanez (.275 16 83) Pablo Sandoval (.268 13 63)

Carlos Ruiz (.298 8 53) Cody Ross (.269 14 65)

Tags: Andres Torres, Aubrey Huff, Bruce Bochey, Buster Posey, Charlie Manuel, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Freddy Sanchez, Giants, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Blanton, Johnny G, Jonathon Sanchez, Juan Uribe, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, NCLS, NLCS Preview, pat burrell, Phillies, Placido Polanco, Raul Ibanez, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Ryan Howard, Tim Lincecum