What often seperates one team from another in postseason baseball is not the big bopper in the middle of the lineup, but the thoroughbred at the top of the rotation. Last year, Cole Hamels served that role for the Phillies, and this year it’s been Cliff Lee. The Yankees have one of those guys too, and his name is CC Sabathia.

So last night’s Angels come-from-behind win over New York could mean a big boost for the Phillies, resting and waiting for their next opponent. Why?

Because an Angels win tomorrow means Sabathia has to pitch in game seven on Sunday night, and that would knock him out of game one on Wednesday, should the Yankees get there. Plus…

• If he pitches game one, he can go 1-4-7 on three days rest and pitch three times in the World Series, though the Yankees would still use a 4th starter so they don’t have to pitch AJ Burnett or Andy Pettite on three days rest.
• If he has to pitch Sunday, the earliest you’re looking at Sabathia is game two (on three days rest), and they he gets, at most, two starts in the World Series.

Meanwhile, the Phillies can sit back, relax, wait, and root for the Angels.  

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What questions do the Phillies have to answer over the next week? Paul Hagen has the story in today’s Philadelphia Daily News.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 8:10 am and is filed under General Baseball, Phillies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.