Phils Are In with Lesson for Astros

The Philadelphia Phillies who won last year's World Series will have a chance to start the journey toward defending it in the post season. Their win over the Astros made it a fun clinching even if the pressure wasn't on with a big lead late and the Marlins leading the Braves all night as well.



That didn't keep the full house crowd (the 38th straight and 69th sellout of the season) from celebrating anyway. And Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel showed major league big time class when he called on Brad Lidge to get the final out of the game. Lidge has had a horrible season in large measure due to a balky and swollen knee and an elbow that may be harboring bone chips. He likely won't be a key man in the post season. But Charlie and the Phillie fans have not forgotten what Lidge meant to the 2008 World Champs. He gave Brad the stage for the clincher.



Now, for the Phillies the real hard work begins. They have to solidify their back end of the bullpen. They need to do it in games that still count in a way as teams jockey for higher seeds and home field advantages in the early rounds. That is not as important in baseball as in other sports--just don't tell the business people that. They want as many home games as possible.



The Phils announced mid game Wednesday they will be without veteran Jamie Moyer for the post season. He has a groin injury that will require surgery. The veteran lefty will be missed. There is no question the Phillies have the offense to cause any opponent problems. Do they have the top to bottom pitching? That may be what stymies their attempt to be the first NL team to win back to back World Series since the Reds of 1975-76.



What about the Astros? They may not be in the Phillies class for awhile, but there are some nice signs that it may not take too long. J.R. Towles advice from Dave Clark may be registering. He has been much more aggressive at the plate the last few games. The hits have been coming. And his two home run game Wednesday was the first of the major league career. Towles had looked so overmatched at the plate with the Astros since April 2008 that some were losing hope. Not Clark who remembered what he had seen managing Towles in the Astro system. J.R. has hit there. If he can do the same in Houston he may make it yet. And with Jason Castro coming on that could wind up being a better than average backstop pair in a year or two.



If Manzella is at shortstop defense will be stronger. If Lance bounces back the run scoring should be better. Pence, Bourn, Lee... all offensive and in a couple cases defensive positives. In a perfect world Miguel Tejada would re-sign for a reasonable rate and become the teams 2010 third baseman while Chris Johnson gets another year of development at Round Rock.

That would be nice, but still maybe not enough since the Cards, Cubs, Brewers and Reds may be more balanced at this moment. So much of the success of the Astros in 2010 depends on what the other teams are doing. If a club can make its pitching dominant a lot of other areas are less of a problem all of a sudden. That is exactly what Ed Wade hopes to do.

The Astros won't be out homering the Phillies anytime soon. But they can be in the same class with some tweaks, acquisitions and luck. Isn't that what makes the difference for some teams every year?



It all goes back to pitching....for the Phillies in the post season 2009 and the Astros in 2010. Stay tuned... The Astros have a lot more time to improve their staff. The Phillies need to have theirs in top shape now!