Here is how I see the playoffs shaking out in the National League.
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals: At the beginning of the year, I thought the Dodgers were going to cruise to the World Series, and their hot start did nothing to dissuade that notion. But Chad Billingsley took a turn for the worse, the Manny Ramirez suspension occurred and the team as a whole sputtered down the stretch. They ve got a really good lineup, though. Andre Ethier showed himself to be a big time power hitter with a penchant for hitting in the clutch, as he had walk off hit after walk off hit this season. Ramirez is still a quality hitter. Matt Kemp is one of baseball s rising stars and the rest of the lineup is pretty solid, as well.
The pitching is what makes me nervous about this team. Randy Wolf has been good down the stretch, but Billingsley has been shaky. Clayton Kershaw is a young stud, but is he ready for the right lights of the postseason? Pitching is one thing that the Cardinals do not have to worry about. The Cards have two of the best pitchers in baseball heading up their rotation in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. Both hurlers are in the mix for the NL Cy Young award and we ve seen dynamic pitching duos excel in the playoffs before. I m looking for Matt Holiday to have a big postseason, as teams will probably be pitching around Albert Pujols quite often. This is also a matchup between two great managers, Joe Torre and Tony LaRussa. The Cardinals seem like the better rounded team to me, which is a central reason that I think they ll prevail. Prediction: St. Louis in four.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Colorado Rockies: This is a series you want to get MLB tickets at http://www.stubhub.com/mlb tickets to see. It s the reigning champs against the hottest team. The Rockies are hoping to make a run to the World Series in similar fashion to the way they did two years ago. The Rockies have been a very good team since Jim Tracy took over as manager and have the best pitching staff in the history of the franchise. Their lineup is solid, but not great, so the pitching will be a big factor. The Phillies have a great one two punch in Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, not to mention a great lineup. The Phillies seem like they re just too strong for the Rockies, but it should be a hard fought series. Prediction: Philadelphia in five.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals: This would be a great matchup. Both teams have great 1 2 starters, so the matchups would be very intriguing for those guys, as long as they lined up correctly. I give the edge in the starting pitching to the Cardinals, but the lineup edge to the Phillies. This really could go either way, but I think that Carpenter and Wainwright would just be a little too much for the Phillies to handle. Prediction: St. Louis in seven.
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