This article is the second in a series of three, in which I pick the eight-playoff teams and then the World Series winner.
Today I will focus on the National League.
NATIONAL LEAGUE:
EAST –
The pick: PHILLIES
There has not been a single team in the NL East that has seized control of first place and ran away with it. This race has been neck-in-neck all season long, as the Phillies, Mets, and Marlins have all taken turns leading their division.
Do I expect one of these three to eventually pull away from the rest?
The answer to that would be a resounding ‘no.’
Much like the AL East, the race to the finish line in the NL East will be an exciting one.
My pick here is the Phillies, even though I still believe it’s pretty much a crapshoot.
The Phillies have what is arguably the most dangerous lineup in the majors, leading all 30 teams in the home runs departments (the Marlins rank second).
They’ve got three guys with over 25 long balls – Ryan Howard (31), Chase Utley (27), and Pat Burrell (27) – and defending National League MVP Jimmy Rollins has been known to take pitchers yard as well.
Not to mention, Utley has been touted as one of the favorites to win MVP this season; if so, it would be the third year in a row that a Phillies player has won the award (Howard won it in 2006, Rollins in 2007).
With all that power, it’s no wonder that outscoring the Phillies is quite a formidable task. Among National League clubs, they rank second to only the Chicago Cubs in runs scored.
Therefore, their pitching doesn’t have to be superb.
Cole Hamels, their hands-down number-one starter, is a strikeout machine and more than likely a future Cy Young Award winner.
Jamie Moyer can still go out and get quality starts despite being a fossil of major league baseball.
Then there’s Joe Blanton, who the Phillies got from the Oakland A’s around mid-July before the trade deadline. Most would consider Blanton a ‘C-list’ starting pitcher, but, as I just said, their pitching is expected to be efficient; not exceptional.
In the closer’s role, Brad Lidge has found his swagger once again. Lidge has 27 saves on the season, second-best in the National League, and is looking more like the Brad Lidge of 2004 and 2005 that slammed the door shut for the Houston Astros. He is a perfect 27-for-27 on saves to this point.
Another reason why I like the Phillies to take the NL East is because there’s more that I don’t like about the Mets and Marlins.
3 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Sam Wenk 11 months ago
Nice article Dustin. I like your picks, and I feel the DBacks are going to start to demonstrate the winning mentality they had earlier in the year. Stephen Drew has really come into his own lately. Plus, as you wrote, Harden is going to help the Cubs maintain their lad in their division And top to bottom, the Phillies are a better team than anyone else in the East.
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Bob Warja 11 months ago
It's going to come down to health with a lot of the contending teams. As long as Sheets stays healthy, as long as Carpenter can stay healthy and be productive, as long as Harden stays healthy, as long as Pujols' calf and elbow hold up, as long as Soriano is OK, if Wood can return soon...well, you get the idea.
I also agree with the D-Backs. Look at how rudely they treated the Cubs the last series. When you have a double whammy like Zambrano-Harden, Sabathia-Sheets and Webb-Haren, you can't be counted out.
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Dustin Woolridge 11 months ago
That's a good point, Bob - I have implemented the best-case scenarios for every team as far as staying healthy goes, and there's no doubt in my mind that injuries will definitely play a big part in how the NL pennant chase shakes out.
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