Phils' Pitchers Prepare for Rays' Potency

No, not that kind of potency. Get your head out of the gutter. What the headline meant was that the Phladelphia Phillies' pitching staff, especially the starting rotation, should be gearing up over the next few days as the World Series approaches. With their matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays finally official, after last night's ALCS Game Seven, the Phillies will have their work cut out for them against a young, energetic, and powerful lineup.

With young stars like B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, Dioner Navarro, Carl Crawford, and with Rocco Baldelli even getting himself in the mix late in the year, the Rays have one of the best young lineups in the Majors. Filling in around these guys are talents like veteran Cliff Floyd, Japanese import Aki Iwamura, Gabe Gross, Willy Aybar, Fernando Perez, a whole different cast of characters, who, at one time or another, have stepped up and made important contributions to the offensive success of their team.  For Phillies fans, this should sound pretty familiar, and for Phillies starters, it should sound pretty frightening. 

That is not to say that I think the Phillies will be unable or unprepared to handle the Rays' hitters, just that they definitely should not take them lightly. After watching the success of the Phillies' lineup, a similarly young lineup that a lot of people expected to falter down the stretch or as the postseason wore on, the starters for the Phils have had a front row seat to see just what kind of attitude and ability will be present in the Rays' hitters.

So what should we expect to see out of the Phillies' rotation in the World Series?  Let's take a look and see what we can determine.

First things first, who will be the starting pitchers for the Phillies in this World Series? Cole Hamels and Brett Myers were locks to pitch Games One and Two, respectively, from the moment Carlos Ruiz snagged that pop fly out of the dark Los Angeles night sky in front of the 84 Dodgers fans still present at Game Five.

However, after two straight shaky outings, it was unsure whether or not Jamie Moyer would start a game or not. Charlie Manuel has since announced that he will stick with the crafty veteran southpaw and give him the nod in Game Three. Joe Blanton would probably be pencilled in for Game Four, with the rotation resetting to Hamels afterward.

But depending on how the series plays out, it is entirely possible that Blanton would get skipped in favor of more innings with Hamels on the mound.

Cole Hamels is a bona fide major-league ace and one of the best left-handed pitchers in the league. Boasting a strong fastball, a functional curveball, and a devastating change-up, Hamels can make even the best hitters look foolish in big at-bats. Maybe even more important than his pitching ability, though, is the NLCS MVP's mentality and personality on the pitching mound.

He has grown up a lot since he came into the league and seems to have put the hot-headed days of his past (see, 2005 broken hand resulting from a bar fight) behind him without losing the competitive fire that makes him a great pitcher. This guy has some of the best stuff in the game, and even though he has quite an ego, he has shown that he can really put people away consistently.

Even in his bad starts, you can watch a game pitched by Cole Hamels and think to yourself at least once an inning: "Wow, there's not many pitchers that can make a pitch like that." 

Cole should be able to handle the Rays' lineup, as long as he gets a little run support and stays on an even keel when the Rays do get to him. I think the Phillies should be able to win the game(s) pitched by Hamels and am excited to see how he goes after them.

Brett Myers

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