myerstownherald.com

By ERIC FISHER
Who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf? What about a mid-sized, mid-80s throwing left-handed Wolf? No, Phillies fans aren’t scared of Los Angeles Dodgers starter Randy Wolf. And they aren’t scared of Vicente Padilla, another former Phillie in the Dodgers rotation.
The Dodgers rotation doesn’t frighten anyone. Clayton Kershaw (8-8) is a 21-year-old hurler with a bright future, but he isn’t scaring anybody yet. (If you’re reading this column in the Myerstown Herald newspaper instead of at www.myerstownherald.com on Thursday, you already know how Kershaw fared in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.)
Padilla, the starter for Game 2 Friday afternoon, was 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA after being signed by the Dodgers. But Philles fans remember Padilla’s struggles with consistency, not to mention that he was released on August 17 by the Texas Rangers, who were contending for the American League wild card at the time.
Hiroki Kuroda, returning from a herniated disk in his neck, will be the Game 3 starter. Wolf is scheduled to start Game 4.
Scared yet? Well, let me put a little fear into you.
Remember those fearsome pitching duos that we preferred the Phillies avoid during the postseason? San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain and St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter? The Dodgers finished ahead of the Giants in the NL West. They dispatched the Cardinals and their vaunted pitching staff and lineup, 3-0, in their playoff series.
The Dodgers beat those teams without an ace. That tells you something about the quality of the Dodgers’ lineup and bullpen.
Their success also tells you something about manager Joe Torre, as if we weren’t already familiar with his success. Torre repeatedly makes the right moves. He’s changed his rotation for each round of the playoffs. He used closer Jonathan Broxton in the eighth inning of each playoff game with the Cardinals.
But Torre isn’t doing it with mirrors. The Dodgers may not have starter pitchers with the pedigree of Cy Young Award winners Pedro Martinez and Cliff Lee or last year’s playoff hero, Cole Hamels, but L.A. has plenty of talent.
The Dodgers outfield may be even better than the Phillies’ vaunted outfield of Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez. We’re all familiar with hitting machine Manny Ramirez, but casual fans may not be as familiar with Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.
There is very little the 24-year-old Kemp doesn’t do well. He can hit, run, field, etc. Ethier seems to be coming into his own at age 27, entering what are often the prime years of a baseball player’s career.
Ramirez is always dangerous, but he hasn’t performed at Manny-like levels since returning from a 50-game suspension for using a banned substance. Ethier and Kemp are the outfielders who should be the biggest cause of concern for Phillies fans.
Another concern is the bullpen. The Phillies bullpen still is a huge question mark. I’m not buying the Brad Lidge resurrection based on two outings, one of which included more balls than strikes and one of which consisted of retiring one batter.
On the other hand, the Dodgers bullpen is very good. The Dodgers acquired former Orioles closer George Sherrill before the trade deadline to complement Broxton. The bullpen has also been bolstered by Ronald Belisario, who was rescued from the scrap heap and rewarded the Dodgers with a 2.04 ERA.
It would behoove the Phillies to take advantage of the Dodgers’ starting pitchers. A close game in which the bullpens play a major role is not a scenario favoring the Phillies.
Another factor working against the Phillies in close games is the bench. The Phillies’ bench players are not exactly a distinguished group. Unless Matt Stairs can repeat history with another bomb off Broxton, the bench edge certainly goes to the Dodgers.
Phillies fans should recognize one of the Dodgers’ big bats off the bench – although the uniform might look a little strange. Jim Thome, a short-lived folk hero who symbolized the rebirth of the Phillies’ franchise as it closed out Veterans Stadium and moved into Citizens Bank Park, now swings his lumber for the Dodgers. It was an amicable parting, but you know Thome must have dreamed of hitting a big playoff home run at Citizens Bank Park, albeit in red and white instead of Dodgers blue.
Speaking of those who at one time envisioned success in Citizens Bank Park, the Dodgers’ third-base coach is former Phillies shortstop and manager Larry Bowa, whom the Phillies replaced with Charlie Manuel.
Are you scared yet? Good, you should be. The Phillies handled the Dodgers during last year’s NLCS, but this year’s series could be very different.
After spending almost an entire column building up the Dodgers, let me tell you why the Phillies should win: Ryan Howard; Chase Utley; Jimmy Rollins; Raul Ibanez; Jayson Werth; Shane Victorino; Pedro Feliz; Carlos Ruiz.
Here are five more reasons: Cole Hamels; Cliff Lee; Joe Blanton, J.A. Happ, Pedro Martinez.
The playoffs are about pitching. The Phillies’ rotation is better than the Dodgers’ rotation.
PREDICTION: Phillies in 6.