Yankees vs. Phillies W.S. 2009

[yourchoice]

Originally Posted by floydpink

Ok, so if it goes 7, is it gonna be Cliff Lee vs CC Sabathia? Or will the Phillies go with Cole Hamels?

I don't know what Charlie would do. I would start either Hamels on a very very short leash, with the first two out of the pen (if he struggles, even just a little bit) being Happ and Blanton. I would even pull him after 4 if he allowed no runs but struggled with his command or was being hit hard. Late inning set-up/situational relief being Park, Durbin, Eyre and Madson and use Lee as the closer. No Lidge at all. On two days rest I wouldn't trust Lee's stuff for more than 35-40 pitches, but even one pitch could be too many. I still would use him as the closer (like the D-Backs did with Johnson). If they used Madson or Park as the closer I would be okay with that too. But that's me....shrug.

And there's a lot of talk about how many saves Madson blew this year. The thing is that stat is kind of skewed because if you lose a lead in the 7th, 8th, or 9th inning you are charged with a blown save. Situationally, losing a lead in the 8th is a lot different than in the 9th, especially when you're typically starting the inning in the 9th nine times out of 10. Admittedly, he still wasn't very good as a closer, but that stat they keep throwing around is misleading, IMO.