[sweep]

Rob Parker ESPN just said Phillies wont make the playoffs

[SportGTI]

Is this it all far-fetched?? I'm not so sure. The biggest thing for the Phillies will be their offense. With Howard's status still unclear and with age reducing the speed at the top of the lineup, the Phillies will not score a lot of runs.

Granted, this could be offset because they have three front-line starters (Halladay, Lee, and Hamels), it'll come down to their bull-pen to secure a lot of close (1 run) ball-games. With the loss of Madsen (to the Reds) and now Papelbon closing the door, it'll be interesting to see if he can come through with Lidge setting up (or vice versa).

Looking at the other teams intra-division, this probably helps the cause of the Phils making the playoffs much better. The only real threat I see in the division might be the Marlins. They have "talent" but a lot of it is young and unproven. The Braves are similar to the Phillies in terms of pitching and offense. Only problem is that I'm not sure their rotation can stack up the Phils. The Nationals are chalk full of talent (but unproven like the Marlins) and the Mets, well I don't see them competing.

Overall, I personally think the Phillies are the team winning the NL east. But I do see Parker's stance as if they cannot provide enough punch out of their offense, they could struggle to win games OR have their starters eat up too many innings causing a late season collapse. I think, worst case is that they finish a strong second and compete for one of the two wild cards as the NL east is too weak.

Hope I don't come across as arguing. Just wanted to shed some thoughtful opinion.

BOL this baseball season sweep

[gryfyn1]

Rob Parker isn't paid by ESPN to say intelligent, insightful things on TV. He's paid to say stupid shit that make you post a thread on some Forum that contains his name and ESPN

[RL75]

Their picks were to go to the NCLS and ALCS. He misspoke and said they won't make the playoffs, but 5 seconds later corrected himself. He said they won't get to the NLCS.

[abe74]

I don't value the opinion of any person that goes on that show. That has to be the worst show on ESPN, especially when Skip is debating/arguing really loudly with Stephen A. Smith.