A Look at the Phillies' Potential Playoff Opponents

After taking 2 out of 3 games in their most recent series against the San Francisco Giants, the Philadelphia Phillies sit 8.5 games ahead of the Braves and Marlins in the NL East. At the risk of looking foolish by this time next month, I'm calling the division for the Phillies. I'm doing this so we can get ahead of ourselves and take a look at some of the opponents they will have to face on their way to a second consecutive World Series. Now that both the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline and the August 31st deadline for playoff roster eligibility have come and gone, we have a pretty good idea what the rosters of contenders will look like come playoff time. So lets take a look at some of the teams the Phillies will have to face in October, and how they could potentially match up.

For the purposes of this exercise, I am going to assume that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals win their respective divisions as well, because it sure looks like they are going to. I'm also assuming that the Wild Card entrant will be either Colorado, San Francisco, Atlanta, or Florida because if a team like the Cubs comes back from the dead to make the playoffs, well...that's another column entirely. On with the show.

Los Angeles Dodgers The Dodgers currently have the best record in the National League, though they sit just a game ahead of St. Louis and 3 ahead of Philadelphia in the race for home field advantage in the playoffs. They feature a young, deep, and talented lineup lead by slugger Manny Ramirez. The bullpen is also deep, and with Jonathan Broxton and George Sherrill in the back end, they can present match up problems late in games. They recently acquired help for the rotation in Vincente Padilla and Jon Garland, and for the bench in Rafael Belliard and Jim Thome. However, all of those guys come with drawbacks. Padilla was released from Texas because he was a bad teammate. Garland is just mediocre now, though he had a good run with the White Sox in '05. Belliard and Thome are nice bats off the bench but don't play any defense, which could be a problem in extra inning situations. The real issue that I see is the top of the rotation. Kershaw, Billingsly, and Wolf are a good top three, but are they as good as the top 3 in Philly, St. Louis, or even San Francisco? LA is a very good team and will be a tough out, but they could lose some close games because they don't have the aces that other contenders do.

St. Louis Cardinals The acquisitions of Mark DeRosa, Julio Lugo, and Matt Holiday have all paid dividends for the Cardinals and perhaps elevated them to the top team in the National League. The lineup, which was once a weakness, is now a strength around likely NL MVP Albert Pujols. Their pitching rotation might be the best in baseball with Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Kyle Lohse, and Joel Piniero. John Smoltz looks revived by his return to the National League and could be a key contributor out of the bullpen in the playoffs. They are deep and versatile off the bench. Ryan Franklin has been fantastic closing games for St. Louis, and while they have some other good arms in the bullpen, they could be vulnerable in middle relief. The problem with that is their starters go deep enough into games that middle relief might not be as much of a factor in the playoffs. If I had to pick a team to beat Philadelphia in the playoffs this year, it would be St. Louis.


Colorado Rockies. The Rockies have cooled off a bit since going on a tear that coincided with the firing of former manager Clint Hurdle and the promotion of Jim Tracy. However, they still lead the NL Wild Card race by 1 game over San Francisco. They have a good offensive club and are also very good defensively at most positions. One of the main reasons for their resurgence has been their improved pitching, but injuries to starter Aaron Cook and closer Huston Street could undermine their ability to even make the playoffs. Jason Marquis has had a very good year, and youngsters Jorge De La Rosa and Ubaldo Jimenez have pitched much better in the second half of the year. However, none of those guys really scare you in a playoff series and though Cook and Street would (presumably) be back if the Rockies qualify for the postseason, they still might not have the pitching staff to make it past the first round.

San Francisco Giants. If the Giants make the playoffs, it will be on the strength of their pitching staff. Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain form as good a 1-2 punch as any in baseball and if those two pitched 3 games of a 5 game series or 4 games of a 7 game series, there could be a lot of trouble for whichever team they face. Though they won't have home field in any playoff series, they are still tough to beat in their own park. The problem is that they just can't hit. Aside from Pablo Sandoval, they don't really have anybody that strikes fear in you in a big situation. They have some good veterans in Aaron Rowand, Benji Molina, and Randy Winn who are nice complementary players, but not offensive centerpieces. They have some good arms in the bullpen, but you can get to closer Brian Wilson. Basically, if they make the playoffs, it will be because of their starting pitching. And since their pitching is good enough that they could upset a team or two in October, let's just hope the Giants don't qualify.

Atlanta Braves. The Braves would probably be more of a factor in the playoff race were in not for some injuries. Even when everyone is healthy, however, the Braves are not a good offensive team. Chipper Jones and Brian McCann are their only real offensive stars and McCann has been struggling of late. Yunel Escobar has been a disappointment for the majority of the season and all of their other regulars are platoon-caliber guys at best. The strength of the team is pitching. They added Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami, and Javier Vazquez in the offseason and those guys have paid dividends. Jair Jurrjens is very good and Tim Hudson could provide a boost down the stretch. Rookie Tommy Hanson has been terrific as well. They are very versatile in the bullpen, able to match up with Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez at the end of games. Unlike the Giants, who very well might win the Wild Card on the strength of their pitching alone, the Braves will need to start hitting some more if they are going to make the postseason.

Florida Marlins. The Marlins have looked like world beaters at times this season, and at others they appear to be ready to give up the ghost. It's hard to know what to make of Florida at this point, as they have dealt with some key injuries and the inconsistencies of their younger players. When healthy, this is as good an offensive ball club as any in baseball, and the addition of Nick Johnson to the 2-hole in their lineup has been huge for them. Rookie Chris Coughlan has emerged as a very good leadoff man. Josh Johnson is an ace, and while they have some very good arms on their staff, they have been largely inconsistent for most of the year. The bullpen, a perennial problem for the Marlins, is a mess again. If they can get healthy as a team relatively soon, they could get hot and make a run at the Wild Card. And if they get to the playoffs, there is enough talent on that team that they would be a very tough out.