Good Post By Garry Cobb

With Home Field Clinched, It’s Time For Phils To Prepare For Playoffs

The Phillies have punched their ticket to the postseason, and they have a first class seat with the addition of home field advantage secured throughout the playoffs. With everything locked up, it’s time for the Phillies to get ready for October. The Phillies can do three important things with their remaining games to put themselves in the best possible position for another deep playoff run; rest their starters, test their bullpen, and get the key bench players plenty of at bats.

The Phillies have the luxury of being able to give their starters plenty of rest. This is particularly important for Jayson Werth , 38 year old Raul Ibanez, and Placido Polanco. Werth and Ibanez are the only starters who haven’t spent time on the disabled list this season, and haven’t had many days off throughout the season. Polanco has been playing through an elbow injury that will require offseason surgery. Having a couple of days without putting unnecessary stress on that injury can’t hurt. Jimmy Rollins is the only starter that needs to see extended action to help his timing down, having returned from his hamstring injury.

While Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge have stabilized the back of the bullpen, the rest of the bullpen is unreliable. Chad Durbin and Jose Contreras have been effective in small bursts, and could be needed in the playoffs. Contreras could benefit from some more work. Once the Phillies stopped using him as frequently as they did early in the season, Contreras may have lost some of his effectiveness due to a lack of work.

The Phillies also need to find out who among the likes of J.C. Romero, Antonio Bastardo, Danys Baez, and David Herndon will be on the playoff roster. While none of these pitchers have been reliable options during the season, its possible the Phillies will need to call on one of them in an emergency situation in the playoffs.

The key bench players (Ross Gload, Domonic Brown, Ben Francisco, Mike Sweeney, Brian Schneider) haven’t seen a lot of work during September, and will benefit from the Phillies resting their starters. Bench players need to get some at bats to be at their best. The bench was thought to be a weak point on the team until they got a steady flow of work (through necessity due to injuries) and helped turn the season around.

The Phillies have put themselves in the best possible position going into the postseason. They have the rare luxury of clinching everything early, and can now use their remaining games to fine tune their roster as they prepare for another World Series run