With everything going on in my life, you may have thought I forgot about my favorite hobby, the Philadelphia Fightin' Phils. Of course, you would have thought wrong, because I never forget about the Phillies, especially when they play like they have of late. This team seems to be peaking at the exact right time, led by the formidable duo of Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins. Those 2 have come a long way since their appearance on that piece of shit sports talk show, whose name I am choosing to omit from this post. Jimmy seems to be on base at least 3 times a game, and Howard has been mashing homers at a ridiculous pace for the last month or so. When these 2 are ticking, we are nearly impossible to beat.
The most amazing part of this late season surge has been the consistency and reliability of their starting pitching. Hamels, Myers, and Moyer have anchored a staff that has been tremendous down the stretch. While Kendrick shit the bed and is now out of the rotation, and it should stay that way, Kentucky Joe Blanton and JA Happ always seem to step up when we really need a win. They will serve as solid 4th and 5th starters as we reach the postseason. Yes, I said it, we are going to reach the postseason, there is no doubt in my mind. At the time of this post, we have a 1.5 game lead on the floundering Mets, and a 3 game cushion on the choke artist Brewers. For those of you keeping track at home, we've picked up about 10 games on the Brew Crew in a little less than 3 weeks. To add insult to injury, we also got their manager fired with 2 weeks left in the season. Oops.
I think the NL Postseason is going to be the Phils, Cubs, and Dodgers, and the Mets rounding out the field with the Wild Card. That would set up a Phils v. Dodgers series and a Cubs v. Mets series. To be honest with you, I like how we match up against every single one of those teams. The Mets have absolutely no 'pen, and this fact will become increasingly more obvious in those high-pressure postseason situations. The Dodgers lineup is decent, and they've played good baseball down the stretch. However, they will finish only about 8-10 games over .500 in the pathetic NL West, which doesn't impress me in the least. I think we can tear through their pitching just like we did a few weeks ago in a 4 game sweep. That brings us to the Cubs. They have been the best team in the NL pretty much wire to wire, and they don't have too many weaknesses. However, we split a 4 game series with them in Wrigley about a month ago that should have been a Phillies sweep. Earlier in the season, we beat them 2-1 in a series that we also should have swept. For whatever reason, we play the Cubs well, and I think we'd have a good time with them in the NLCS. I'm not saying the Phillies will make the World Series (erection) but I am saying they have a very good shot with the way the matchups are turning out.
The Phillies biggest threat this postseason will be their bullpen. You know you're going to get quality from at least the top 3 starters, and the hot bats should continue right into the postseason. However, the pen has been suspect for the past 2 months, and we still have some problems in the 8th inning. Chad Durbin has been terrible recently, JC Romero seems to have lost some of his luster, and you never know what you're going to get from Ryan Madson. Also, while Lidge has still not blown a save this season (41 for 41 now), he has been shaky most times out, and seems to be due to blow a save. Let's hope the first one doesn't come in the playoffs, or ever this season for that matter. The key to this team's success is the pen, and if they can hold the leads, we're going to go far in the postseason.
I'm getting really excited for the playoffs, and I'm already figuring out ways to get off work if I happen to get tickets in the raffle this week. It'll be sweet to be in town to feel the buzz this year, and I'm going to be there to see them off to the playoffs on Sunday. Let's hope this year goes better than last year. At least none of the 3 other teams will be going into the playoffs hot, and we actually will be the hottest team in the NL Playoffs this year. Go Phils, let's finish out the last 6 games strong and carry that momentum into the playoffs!
Song of the Day: Boyz II Men - Motownphilly
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