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Dodgers vs. Phillies Preview | Pick

Freddy Wills weighs in with his 2009 NLCS predictions for the matchup featuring the LA Dogers vs. Philadelphia Phillies. Check out his free mlb picks today…

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Philadelphia Phillies Predictions

Freddy Wills
Freddy Wills

Series odds: Dodgers -120

Pitching

As of Tuesday morning the starting pitchers have still not been announced although it looks like Cole Hamels will make the start for the Phillies.

Overall the Dodgers have the advantage as they led the Majors not only in overall ERA, but in Bullpen ERA. On the other hand the Phillies were ranked 7th overall and 13th out of their bullpen.

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The weaknesses are clear in the bullpen as the Phillies had a lot of questions on who would be closing out games, but those questions have all been answered if you believe Lidges 2 saves were the real deal against the Rockies.

We will likely see Wolf, Padilla, and Kershaw, and possibly Garland or Billingsley if the Dodgers decide to go to a 4 man rotation which is what teams normally do at this point. While the Phillies will go with Hamels, Lee, Happ, Martinez, and possibly Blanton. So we have 5 probable pitchers on each side.

Dodgers SP who might struggle:

Randy Wolf – who will be the ace of the Dodgers once again gave up 6 ER in a home start in June to the Phillies on 6.1 innings and 8 hits. However, the Phillies are hitting just .261 off Wolf and Wolf owns LH hitters which the Phillies have abundance of.

Jon Garland – Phillies are hitting .309 off him and in two starts this year one at home and once on the road he went 11.1 IP giving up 8 ER on 16 hits.

Phillies SP who might struggle:

Joe Blanton – Dodgers hitters have a .295 average off Blanton in 129 AB. However, Blanton shut them down in his 1 start vs. the Dodgers as he went 6.1 innings and gave up just 1 ER.

Edge: Dodgers

Hitting

Both of these teams have first ballot hall of famers in the middle of their lineups in Manny Ramirez and Ryan Howard. It can be argued that Utley is also a Hall of Famer. Their are two extreme differences between these teams and that is power vs. average. The Phillies are ranked #21 in average while the Dodgers are in the top 5 at #4 in the majors. Does that mean the Dodgers are the better offensive team? No not necessarily sometimes in these big games what matters is clutch hitting and a home run late in a game.

The Phillies have the edge in the power category as they have 224 HR compared to the Dodgers 145. I think the Dodgers have more power than many believe, but it will come into play in this series. While the Dodgers play small ball the Phillies can blast a 3 run HR for a quick lead. Small ball in my opinion does not always translate into big clutch hitting. If we are talking exclusive clutch hitting you have to give it to the Phillies who came from behind with 2 outs and trailing 4-2 in Game 4 to win 5-4. It was the middle of the lineup that got it done in Howard and Werth.

Edge: Even

Bench

Whenever you have two solid players coming off your bench like Jim Thome or Juan Pierre you have the two ingredients of a bench player that you want. Juan Pierre is a player that can get on base and possibly steal a base. Jim Thome is a guy who can come in a key match up and hit a HR to tie or take the lead. The Phillies on the other hand have Miguel Cairo, Ben Francisco and Matt Stairs none of which should scare the dominant Dodgers pen.

Edge: Dodgers

Pick: Dodgers in 6 games.

Look for the Dodgers to take advantage of this series when they go home. The Phillies bullpen will really hurt them in this match up. The Phillies exposed the Rockies weakness vs. LHP and this won’t be the case against the Dodgers as the Dodgers hit .270 vs. LHP and RHP, but score +.59 more runs per 9 innings vs. LHP than RHP. Bottom line pitching wins Championships and the Dodgers with their bullpen have the major advantage!

Yankees vs. Angels preview coming on Wednesday!

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2 replies on “Dodgers vs. Phillies Preview | Pick”

If Cole Hamels can win game one and Brad Lidge doesn’t blow any saves, the Phillies bats will power them through this series. They have a way a getting the big hits and scoring runs when they need them the most.

Phillies in 7

LA WONT BE INTIMIDATED. THEY JUST WENT THROUGH WAINRIGHT AND CARPENTER WHO ARE SUPPOSE TO BE THE BEST IN THE GAME. PHILLIES OFFENCE IS BETTER THAN ST. LOU’S OBVIOUSLY BUT THE DOGDERS HAVE A BIG BULLPEN EGDE AND ETHIER’S NOT A BAD CLUTCH HITTER HIMSELF. HE HAD A WALK OFF AGAINST THEM THIS YEAR. DODGERS WILL WIN THIS IN SIX GAMES.

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