Major League Baseball

Phillies have lost edge, so expect Rockies to win

Published Oct. 6, 2009 6:37 p.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

If the Phillies were the Phillies of May or even July, I would pick
them not only to beat the Rockies, but also to win their second
straight World Series.




But the Phillies are not the same team they were earlier this season.

They are a team with questionable starting pitching, a bullpen in
disarray and an offense that lost some of its edge.

Maybe they were bored in September. Maybe they simply need a
challenge. But the Rockies are currently the better team, whether or
not left-hander Jorge De La Rosa is healthy enough to start Game 3.

Much of the pre-series analysis will center around the Rockies'
difficulty against left-handed pitching, their 26-26 record in games
started by lefties compared with their 66-44 mark in games started by
righties.

I don't buy it.

One, lefties are not that big an issue for the
Rockies — their .765 OPS against them ranked fourth in the NL.

Two, the Rockies faced four lefties in the final week of the regular
season, and the Dodgers' terrific Clayton Kershaw started the only
game they did not win.

Three — and most significant — the Phillies' top lefties, Cliff Lee
and Cole Hamels, are not pitching all that well.

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