The Phillies' Dilemma

After last week’s series sweep of the Atlanta Braves, it was only a matter of time before the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their fourth straight National League East title. The inevitable happened last night behind Roy Halladay’s complete game 2-hitter against the Washington Nationals. Making the safe assumption that they secure home field advantage throughout the playoffs, how should the Phillies play the remaining games on their schedule including a season-ending set against the Atlanta Braves?

In a bubble, it makes the most sense to treat the balance of their schedule as if they were spring training games. The position players should see enough time to stay sharp without exacerbating the risk of injury. Jimmy Rollins should look at these games as a rehab assignment before he joins the major league squad next week. The Big 3 of Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Roy Oswalt should be placed on a strict pitch-count around 60 pitches to get in their work while the team is able to set up their rotation for the NLDS.

However, the Phillies’ approach to their final series of the season against the Braves (by either laying down or playing balls to the wall) will most definitely affect who does and doesn’t get into the playoffs as the Wild Card team and ultimately who their first-round opponent will be. I have to think the least desirable option for the Phillies is one where they face the dangerous San Francisco rotation of Lincecum, Cain, and Sanchez in a short best-of-5 series and they would decide anything necessary to avoid that scenario.

But then again, this is a team who are 24 games over .500 since the All-Star break and peaking in September with a 20-5 record. They look like a buzzsaw that should find very little trouble in their march towards their third straight National League pennant no matter what team lines up on the other side of the field.  Their only concern in their last five regular season games should be about themselves and to let the other playoff chips fall where they may.

Thanks for coming and suckling Daddy's Sugar Ball...

Posted by Max Power at 9/28/2010 3:00 PM
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Philadelphia Phillies Roy Oswalt playoffs Cole Hamels Wild Card Charlie Manuel Atlanta Braves National League Roy Halladay
 

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