2010 NLCS: Is This How The Philadelphia Phillies Will Get To The World Series?

The Philadelphia Phillies woke up this morning and found themselves in a familiar position: For the third straight season, and only the ninth time in franchise history, the Fightin’ Phils are headed for the National League Championship Series and a chance to go to the World Series.

Good job, Phils. You killed it.  Really well done.

Except . . . 

Is this really how we plan to get to the World Series?

It is easy to look upon the Phillies‘ massacre of the Cincinnati Reds and see greatness. One can’t help but to be overwhelmed by feelings of dominance and glory and wonder. Words like “dynasty” and “reign” and “empire” flow through our foggy minds as our eyes dreamily see floating hearts after the amazing performance of the darlings of Philadelphia.

At the same time, though, clear your head for a second, rub your eyes, and take a look at what I’m looking at: a roster of 25 players, three of whom beat the Cincinnati Reds and 22 of whom stood around watching.

Make no mistake about it: the Philadelphia Phillies swept the Cincinnati Reds in the NLDS because in Game One, Roy Halladay and Carlos Ruiz blew the Reds away; in Game Three, Ruiz and Cole Hamels blew the Reds away; and in Game Two, the Reds blew themselves away.

Oh sure, I know that the fielders behind Halladay and Hamels had to make plays in order for the Phillies to win those two games.  Show me two plays from each game which could not have been made by replacement level defenders, and I’ll be impressed.

One can’t really blame the Phillies hitters who, once Halladay got going in Game One, really did simply enjoy the show as though they had paid the price of admission. Halladay came within a pitch of a post-season perfect game, and from about the third inning on, the Phillies’ hitters attacked the ball with the intensity of a power-nap.

And I suppose one can’t help but relate to the Phillies hitters who, in Game Three, basically hung around watching the masterful back-and-forth between Hamels and Ruiz like they were at centre court at Roland Garros. It was clear from pretty much the second inning that Hamels was “on,” and they have every right to be in awe like the rest of us.

But what about Game Two?

To quickly recap, the Phils went down 4-0, but were bailed out by the Cincinnati Reds when Chase Utley followed consecutive two-out errors in the 5th inning with a single to score a run. In the 6th, the Phils scored another run on a walk-stolen base-HBP-HBP-walk sequence that saw the Phils score a run with getting a hit. Then in the 7th, Scott Rolen makes a rare miscue, followed by a missed flyball from Jay Bruce that should have been out number three, and suddenly the Phils are back in the lead.

An insurance run later, and that’s the ballgame.

But can we not blame the Phillies hitters for sitting around in Game Two? I think we must, because while we may very well get repeat performances from Halladay and Hamels in the NLCS, the odds of either the San Francisco Giants or the Atlanta Braves self-destructing in an NLCS game the way the Cincinnati Reds did seem slim (though Brooks Conrad may beg to differ).

Put it this way: the Phillies just swept the Cincinnati Reds three games to none with an offense that batted just .211, with a .574 OPS, and scored just seven earned runs.

Of the eight teams in the ALDS and the NLDS series, guess how many performed better, on offense, than the Phillies. The answer? Everyone except the Reds and the Atlanta Braves.

The Tampa Bay Rays, who scored a total of one run in the first two games of their series with the Texas Rangers, are now hitting better than the Phillies.

The Minnesota Twins, who got swept out of their series against the Yankees, hit for a higher average and a higher OPS than the Phillies did in the Reds series.

This seems like an issue.

At the end of the day, history will remember that in the 2010 NLDS, the Philadelphia Phillies’ pitching staff held the Cincinnati Reds to three earned runs and a sick .124 batting average (not to mention their .373 OPS). For the moment, we have to hope that the Phillies can, in fact, “hit when they need to.”

While there is no foul in enjoying masterful pitching, and winning because of it, I would certainly shudder to think that if the pitching had not been masterful, the Phillies may not have won at all.

Put another way, the Phils don’t want to be in a situation where they will not win if their pitching is not masterful.

If the Phillies’ hitters stand around as much in the NLCS as they did in the NLDS, because if Philadelphia draws the San Francisco Giants in the next round, their best efforts may yield fewer hits yet.

The good news is, I suspect that the Phillies’ hitters will arrive just in time.

 

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia, and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee, and a Brief History of Midseason Pitcher Acquisitions

Roy Oswalt got roughed up in his first postseason game for the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, giving up three earned runs in just five innings in what would eventually become a Phillies’ Game 2 victory. This was on the heels of Cliff Lee’s first postseason appearance with the Texas Rangers, in which Lee went seven innings, allowing only one earned run with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

So will Oswalt or Lee guide their newly adopted teams to postseason glory? If past midseason pitcher acquisitions are any indication, the odds aren’t good.  Let’s have a look.

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2010 MLB Playoffs: Derek Jeter, Cliff Lee, and 10 Thoughts for the Weekend

The 2010 MLB Playoffs are only just underway—each NLDS series is only one game old—and we’ve got both drama and storylines. Rarely has the first six games of a baseball playoff season been so eventful.

As we head into this weekend’s games, here’s a look at the storylines that have begun to develop. Some teams are doing the opposite of what we expected, while Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees are doing exactly what we expected.

Let’s have a look.

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Roy Halladay and the Top 10 Postseason Moments in Philadelphia Phillies History

In one of the most thrilling moments in postseason history—and what must be the most thrilling moment in divisional series history—Roy Halladay pitched the second postseason no-hitter in baseball history in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS on Wednesday night, becoming the first pitcher to pull off the feat since Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.

But where does this feat rank amongst the top 10 postseason moments in Philadelphia Phillies history?

Let’s take a look.

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2010 MLB: The Boston Red Sox and 10 Non-Playoff Teams to Watch for in 2011

The playoff picture in the American League is all but set, with the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers simply dotting the eyes and crossing the tees on their way to October. 

There is a little drama left in the National League, as the Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres battle it out with the Atlanta Braves for the NL wild card and the NL West division title.

For the most part, we know who is going to be in the playoffs this season. But what about next season? Which teams that are on the outside looking in this year will be in good shape to make a move into October next season?

Let’s have a look.

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Ed Wade, the Houston Astros, and the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies

When it comes time to renew a player’s contract, make trades, or sign free agents, major league general managers can seem incredibly cut-throat and can be perceived as demonstrating little loyalty to their players.

But when major league general managers change jobs, they are often stricken with a dose of loyalty, and will often seek to acquire many of the prospects and youngsters they developed during their time with the previous team.

It is the reason Sammy Sosa went from Texas to the White Sox to the Cubs at an early age, as Larry Himes went from being the White Sox GM to being the Cubs GM. It is the reason the Cincinnati Reds were littered with former Twins under Wayne Krivsky, and it is the reason the Washington Nationals were littered with former Reds under Jim Bowden.

And so it is that Ed Wade, the current Houston Astros GM and former Philadelphia Phillies GM, has also had his imprint on his current and former teams during the last four years. As the Phillies have become World Champions and the Astros have become Phillies-South, players developed, signed, and traded by Ed Wade have made their mark on both teams.

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NL East Showdown: Breaking Down Philadelphia Phillies Vs. Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves come to town this week for a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies currently have a three-game lead in the NL East over the Braves, and the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies surging out west, the Braves may very well be playing for their postseason lives.

Here’s a breakdown of what to expect from this showdown.

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2010 Philadelphia Phillies and the 10 Greatest Philly Teams of All Time

It has been a long and winding season for the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies, but with two weeks to go they find themselves up three games on the Atlanta Braves in the NL East division with the best record in the National League and facing a favorable schedule down the stretch.

With the lineup almost completely healthy for the seemingly the first time all season and with the best trio of pitchers that any living Philadelphian can ever recall, things are looking pretty good for the 2010 squad.

Whether they win their fourth straight NL East divisional title or not, and whether they go to their third straight World Series or not, the current squad of Phillies must, by now, be considered to be one of the two greatest teams the Phillies have ever produced.

Where do they rank amongst the top ten Philadelphia teams of all time? Let’s have a look.

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Philadelphia’s 10 Most Intriguing Athletes of the Week

With the Major League Baseball season coming down the stretch, the NFL season getting under way, and Team USA competing in the basketball World Championships, the Philadelphia sports scene has reached a fever-pitch.

In case you were down the shore this weekend and missed it, here is a look at the 10 most intriguing Philadelphia athletes of the week.

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September Is the Hottest Month: Analyzing Ryan Howard’s September Splits

The air has turned cool, the leaves are turning brown, and the NFL is ready for some football.

That’s right, Phillies fans, September is here once again, and we all know what that means: Ryan Howard is ready to kick his game up a notch.

Or actually, a few notches.

As the Phillies have returned to the top of the NL East on the strength of their dominant pitching and resurgent offense, much has been made of late of how amazing Howard has been during his career in the month of September.

To put Howard’s dominance in September in perspective, let’s do this: as of Monday, September 13th, Howard has now played the equivalent of one full season of games in the month of September. Howard has 153 games, totaling 716 plate appearances and 598 at-bats.

With that in mind, let’s look at Howard’s career numbers in September and analyze how good they would be if they were single-season totals in a given year.

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