Hamels among pivotal players in postseason
Posted: Wednesday, October 01, 2008 7:06 PM
Eight teams are in the playoffs and the keys to the success of each include having an important player come up big. My focus will be on the eight below:
COLE HAMELS: The Phillies needed to win Game 1 since the Brewers have lined up CC Sabathia to pitch two of the last four games, Game 5 (if needed) on four days rest. Hamels did not disappoint as he was outstanding. He authored eight shutout innings, striking out nine and walking just one. The nine strikeouts were one shy of the postseason record for a Phillies’ starting pitcher.
Hamels was in total command as only three hitters reached base against him. Even though Milwaukee batters knew Hamels was going to come with his changeup, they couldn’t touch it. It was exceptional much like the man who threw it and it paved the way for the Phillies to take the NLDS opener, 3-1. A win they had to have.
MIKE CAMERON: If not Cameron for the Brewers my choice would have been Corey Hart. It was a close call and Hart certainly found himself on the spot in Game 1 vs. the Phillies, striking out against Brad Lidge to leave the tying run in scoring position in Milwaukee’s 2-run loss.
Milwaukee leaned far too heavily on Ryan Braun’s bat down the stretch. Manager Dale Sveum made Cameron the leadoff hitter for the final two weeks but Cameron had a horrid September (.176 BA, 6 RBI and 34 K’s) as did Hart (.173 BA, 0 HR and 21 K’s). Cameron, Hart and company must relax and hit if the Brewers are to rebound from their Game 1 loss and make it a series.
CARLOS ZAMBRANO: An obvious choice. For the Cubs to lift their 100-year-old curse of not winning the World Series, their starting pitching must carry them. Zambrano, the ace of their staff, gets the ball in Game 2 and he must handle that and pitch as an ace. Late in the season he did have a no-hitter but he also had a body of work so inconsistent that there is the legitimate question of what he will give the Cubs in the postseason.
RAFAEL FURCAL: There is hope in Dodgerland that the shortstop can play and play well. He prepped for the playoffs by starting four games in the final week. He has motivation to prove himself healthy heading into free agency and the Dodgers know that with Furcal AND Manny Ramirez in the lineup, their chances of an upset of the Cubs greatly improve.
VLADIMIR GUERRERO: In last year’s postseason three-and-out against the Red Sox, Vlad was 2-for-10, both hits singles and all eight outs on the infield. The Angels were overpowered by Boston’s pitching a year ago (to be fair, the 2007 Angels were plagued by injuries to Vlad and Garrett Anderson) so to reverse the results this postseason, they need to hit. Vlad needs to hit.
JON LESTER: He starts Game 1 in Anaheim for Boston while ace Josh Beckett is pushed to Game 3 because of a side muscle injury. On the road, Lester was ordinary (5-5, 4.09 ERA) but at Fenway Park he was spectacular (11-1, 2.49 ERA). Is he ready to assume the role of a leadoff pitcher in a playoff series? The Red Sox sure hope so.
CARL CRAWFORD: His situation is similar to that of Furcal’s with the Dodgers. Is the injured outfielder and the senior Tampa Bay player ready to come back from an injury that cost him the final seven weeks of the regular season? Two at-bats Sunday and brief instructional-league play are all that comprise his warm-up for the most important games in both his career and franchise history.
JAVIER VAZQUEZ: He’ll be another Game 1 starter feeling pressure. The White Sox had to tax their rotation through a rough stretch run (four starters each going on three days rest) and Vazquez was 7-12 with a 5.41 ERA in his last 21 starts and particularly bad in his last three starts. He must now leave the sour taste of his personal close to the season behind and step up big when his team needs him the most in the postseason.
FIVE MORE SWINGS OUTSIDE THE PLAYOFF AXIS:
1. KANSAS CITY went 18-8 in September, a strong sign of hope for beleaguered Royals fans. Yes, it’s the last month of the season but think of this -- the Royals finished ahead of the Tigers in the AL Central. How many people saw that coming? And don’t think the fans in Pittsburgh (17-37 after Aug. 1 and the Xavier Nady/Jason Bay trades), Baltimore (a 5-20 freefall in September) and Atlanta (9-20 in August after the Mark Teixeira trade) wouldn’t have wanted a similar finish.
2. SPEAKING OF DETROIT…has there been a more disturbing team as far as falling short of expectations? With a payroll of $137 million, attendance of 3.2 million not only does this team finish last but they pack it in to the tune of a 19-35 record after Aug. 1.
Yes, I hear the shouts for Seattle being even a more disturbing underachiever and that’s a good point. But credit should go to the Yankees, who continued to play hard and win games after their elimination from postseason competition. Do we read anything into this about the managing of Joe Girardi in New York and Jim Leyland in Detroit, both of whom will return next season?
3. HAVE WE SEEN THE LAST OF…Kenny Rogers, 9-13, 5.70 ERA at age 43 for the Tigers; Omar Vizquel, told by the Giants he would not be re-signed; Jeff Kent, hobbling into the playoffs with the Dodgers; Luis Gonzalez, a non-factor (.261 BA, 8 HR, 47 RBI) for Florida; Moises Alou, a lonely figure around the Mets in the final week after chronic leg injuries limited him to 49 at-bats (an AL team should sign him as a DH); and Frank Thomas, whose leg woes have reduced him to a possible DH?
4. KYLE LOHSE WON: It took him a while but the pitcher with a highly mediocre career found the right place in St. Louis, delivered and cashed in. Lohse, with no appreciable credentials, sought a free-agent bonanza last winter. None came so he signed a one-year deal with the Cardinals. After the finest year of his career in 2008 (second place isn’t close), 15-6, 3.78 ERA, Lohse just signed a 4-year, $41 million deal. Two conclusions: Lohse is smart to stay in the place where he finally succeeded and is there any doubt that Dave Duncan of the Cardinals is baseball’s best pitching coach?
5. YOUNG PLAYERS WHO EMERGED…from the anonymity of September baseball with teams out of the playoff chase include Pablo Sandoval, who it .345 in 145 at-bats for San Francisco. A free swinger in the Manny Sanguillen mold, the catcher will likely be converted to first base by the Giants.
Chris Perez saved six August games for the Cardinals and may get a shot at the closer role. Out of the Washington mess of a season came reliever Joel Hanrahan, second in the NL in strikeouts by a reliever. Chris Dickerson had stalled in the Cincinnati system but after an August call up, hit .304 with 6 HR. Ryan Shealy, once a slugging prospect in Colorado, had a 301 BA, 7 HR and 20 RBI September for Kansas City.
And remember Joey Devine, the reliever who surrendered Chris Burke’s 18th-inning playoff homer in 2005? Then Devine was a 22-year-old just months removed from the North Carolina State campus. His Braves’ career never recovered from that shock but this year Devine resurfaced in Oakland where he finished with a 0.83 WHIP and the inside track to replace Huston Street as closer.
