Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has announced that Cliff Lee will get the start in Game 1 against the Colorado Rockies tomorrow.
If it was July or August, I’d bet the farm that Lee would shut the Rockies down. But as we all know, Lee was shaky in his last two starts and it’s how you pitch now that counts. He had a great season (3.22 ERA) and could be perfectly fine, but we won’t know it until we see it.
Cole Hamels is scheduled for Game 2, and I could say something similar about him as well. He has been up and down all season and we don’t know which Hamels we’ll get.
However, the potential on these two is devastating. If Lee shows the Phillies what he’s capable of like he did when they first traded for him, the Rockies might as well not show up. If Hamels took the regular season off and shows us World Series MVP Hamels, then they can stay home for Game 2 as well and it’s most likely on to the NLCS.
With a shaky back end to the bullpen, Lee and Hamels are beyond huge for this team. If they pitch the way they are supposed to, the Phillies are going to be a very, very tough out this postseason. If not? Well….see 2007.
