Phillies Playoff Scouting Report

No team is entering the playoffs in better shape than the Phillies. It's hard for anyone to argue that point at this stage. They are a better team than they were last year at this time and should enter the proceedings as a huge favorite to represent the National League in the Fall Classic.

The Phillies are armed with a sharper version of Brad Lidge closing out games and Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt are all rejuvenated and headline a deep and potentially dominant rotation. Couple that with their always explosive offense and it's going to take a perfectly played series to bounce the Phils out of the playoffs in 2010.

There's only one thing that could slow the Phillies' march to the World Series and that's the back of their bullpen. For the most part it has held up over the 162-game season, but it's something to at least monitor in October. Lidge has certainly been much better this season, but he is still prone to a postseason implosion.

But what the Phillies have working in their favor in that regard is that, aside from themselves, the National League is not full of explosive lineups that could give them problems late in the game. The Reds could be a difficult foe, however, as they are no strangers to late-game comebacks. If they can avoid such late-inning trouble though, the Phillies' trek through the postseason could be uneventful and easy.

Matchup to Watch

There's going to be a showdown at some point in this opening series between the star left-handed bats of the Phillies and phenom Aroldis Chapman. Chapman will go up against Ryan Howard and Chase Utley and it will likely come at a key point late in a game. From a fan's standpoint, it doesn't get much better, but it's also something the Phillies will need to deal with. Something to keep in mind is that the Phils have yet to see Chapman. Not that his stuff should come at any surprise, but it should make the experience all the more difficult.

X-Factors

Roy Halladay: It's been a long time coming for Halladay, and there is nothing like finally seeing baseball's best perform on the big stage. I wouldn't expect it to be a very difficult transition for a pitcher like Halladay. You can't say this about many pitchers in the last two decades, but when he takes the ball this fall, Philadelphia should be fully expecting a dominant performance.

Scouting Perspective: There's really nothing Halladay can't do on the mound. He has a full arsenal of pitches and locates better than any pitcher has in this decade. But perhaps the biggest secret to his success has been the scissor effect he creates. Very few pitchers have been able to master both the sinking fastball and cut fastball, pitches that are essentially moving in opposite directions. Looking very much the same out of his hand, Halladay's two fastballs can get him through a game almost on their own. There's just no way to read it consistently and adjust to the movement if you're a hitter.

Chase Utley: The whole country saw just what a force Utley could be in postseason play last year. While he was hindered by injuries in 2010, he's still just as dangerous as he was last October. Most importantly for the Phillies, he'll enter the playoffs coming off an outstanding September. Once again he could be the type of player capable of carrying a lineup.

Scouting Perspective: CC Sabathia and the Yankees learned the hard way last October that Utley isn't deterred by left-handed pitchers, even dominant ones. This, of course, makes him an extremely difficult guy to pitch to and match up with come playoff time. He's a guy who knows how to get his hands to the breaking ball and still hook it to right field, and he can also handle and turn around the good fastball on the inner third of the plate. His compact swing and ability to let the ball travel deep allow him to recognize pitches extra early, making him very difficult to fool.

Brad Lidge: It's certainly been an outstanding rebound season for Lidge after going through an absolute nightmare of a campaign in 2009. That nightmare carried over into the World Series last year, as well. If the Phillies expect to return to the top of the mountain, he has to be the dominant closer of 2008 again.

Scouting Perspective: Lidge has been better this year, there's no doubt about that. But his stuff may not be quite what it once was. His control has still been spotty at times, and the raw stuff isn't as lights-out as it was a couple years back. He now lives closer to the low-90s than the mid-90s, and he relies far more heavily on his slider. We all know how dangerous a slider can be late in a postseason game if it hangs.

(Frankie Piliere spent the last three seasons working as a scout, most recently in the professional scouting department for the Texas Rangers in 2009. He now serves as the National Baseball Analyst here at FanHouse.)