NLCS Preview: Phillies vs. Dodgers

October has reached its mid-way point and the defending World Series champions find themselves still alive and in the National League Championship Series. They will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in a rematch of the 2008 NLCS, which saw the Phillies win in five games.

The Dodgers will have home field advantage this time however and the Phillies will look to continue their road warrior mentality to win at least one game in Los Angeles before returning home to Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies made some adjustments to their roster for the NLCS after knocking off the Colorado Rockies in four games in the NLDS. Gone are Brett Myers and Kyle Kendrick and in are utility fielder Eric Bruntlett and reliever Chan Ho Park. The addition of Park, who was rehabbing in Clearwater after a hamstring injury, could give the Phillies some more assurance out of the bullpen as long as he pitches the way he was before his injury. The Phillies will need Park to step up if called on because they will only go with 11 pitchers in this round, as opposed to 12 in the NLDS. The bullpen is one pitcher smaller but coudl have more solid options if Park is in good form. The addition of Bruntlett provides Charlie Manuel with another option for defensive replacements or pinch runners.

The Dodgers will use a number of familiar faces to Phillies fans. Former Phillies on the Dodgers roster include Randy Wolf, Vicente Padilla, and Jim Thome. Both Wolf and Padilla should start at least one game in the series while Thome will be used primarily as a pinch hitter. The Dodgers acquired Thome in a trade in hopes he could provide them a Matt Stairs moment of their own.

To get to the NLCS the Dodgers had to beat the St. Louis Cardinals. For the second straight season the Dodgers swept the NL Central champions (Cubs in 2008) in three games. The Phillies repeated their NLDS pattern by beating the NL wild card team in four games (Brewers in 2008).

The Phillies enter this match-up with some hot bats. the middle of the lineup did a number on the Rockies pitching staff in the NLDS as Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez came up with big at-bats on a number of occasions. Werth hit three home runs in the NLDS, one short of the franchise record for one series (4 by Lenny Dykstra - 1993 World Series) and is more than half way to a tie with Dykstra's franchise record for most post season home runs (five, 1993).

Cole Hamels has been tabbed as the game one starter for the Phillies. After an impressive run in the 2008 playoffs Hamels will look to regain that form after a mediocre outing in his NLDS appearance. Now that the birth of his first child is behind him fans should expect to see a determined Hamels take the mound on Thursday. This season against the Dodgers Hamels is 1-0 with a no decision but has been dominant. In his second start against the Dodgers Hamels tossed a complete game master piece. Hamels may have had some struggles this year against a number of teams, but Los Angeles was not one of them.

Hamels will be faced by young Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw has been bruised by the Phillies in his young career but manager Joe Torre clearly trusts his young ace to come up big in the spotlight.

The Phillies have not yet declared their game two starter but the two most likely candidates appear to be Pedro Martinez and Joe Blanton. Look for Blanton to work out of the bullpen in the first two games with Martinez getting his shot in game two as a starter. Cliff Lee, who pitched in the fourth NLDS game, should make his first start in game three, which could be an obstacle for the Phillies. Chances of pitching Lee twice in the NLCS are very limited at this point.

Here is the tentative schedule for the NLCS, which starts Thursday...
10.15 Game 1 (Los Angeles) - 8:07 pm
10.16 Game 2 (Los Angeles) - 4:07 pm
10.18 Game 3 (Philadelphia) - 8:07 pm
10.19 Game 4 (Philadelphia) - 8:07 pm
10.21 Game 5 (Philadelphia) - 8:07 pm*
10.23 Game 6 (Los Angeles) - 8:07 pm*
10.24 Game 7 (Los Angeles) - 8:07 pm*

* if necessary