Are We Talkin' Playoffs?

It almost seems inevitable that the Phillies, barring a Mets-like collapse of 2007, will make the playoffs as the National League East Champions. And it really seems hard to believe that it was only three years ago we were talking about "it's been 13 years since the Phillies made the playoffs" and all the other hype that talked about Charlie Manuel not being about to get the Phillies over the hump into the playoffs. For now, it is a distant memory.

So let's focus on the Postseason. If the season ended today, the National League would stack up like this: NL East - Phillies, NL Central - Cardinals, NL West - Dodgers, NL WildCard - Rockies. The National League leading Dodgers (87-59) couldn't face the Wild Card winner due to the fact that they are in the same division. Therefore, the Dodgers would face the division winner with the worst record - the Phillies (83-60). That would leave the Cardinals (85-61) to face the Wild Card leading Rockies (82-64). How do the Fightin's match up with the Dodgers?

Well, the Phils went 3-4 losing the series at home and splitting the series out in LA. The good news is they outscored the Dodger Blue, 25-18, including a complete game shutout by Cole Hamels.

Offensively, the power numbers are low (for the Phillies standards) only hitting five home runs in the seven games. Their average hovers around .240 against the Dodgers rotation and only 10 extra base hits in those games. In the two series they Phillies were 2-1 against the Dodgers young phenom, Clayton Kershaw which is a bright spot. But as we can see clearly now, the Phillies bullpen was strapped with three of the five loses including a blown save by our delightful Brad Lidge.

Looking at the other National League opponents, the Phillies sported a 4-1 record agains the Cardinals (2-0 on the road) and 4-2 (2-1 on the road and at the Bank) against the Rockies. Hopefully, trends will continue, Cole will find his groove and the mystery in the 'pen will uncloud itself Charlie's crystal ball.

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