The Four Aces, the Four Horsemen, R2C2. The triumvirate of pitchers the Philadelphia Phillies have acquired over the past calendar year added to a World Series MVP (who was pitching the baseball of his career toward the end of last regular season) already has too many nicknames to count. On April 2nd when Leroy Halladay III (real name) walks out on to the field. That’s not all though, Clifton Lee (real name) comes out on the 2nd day of that three game series, and Jason Werth is going to immediately regret taking his talents to Capitol Hill. Then the third game of the series will happen, and Roy Oswalt, a perennial all-star, is going to step on the bump. How insane is that? Every team the Phillies face this year will get TWO aces, sometimes three and on the most rare of occasions there is potential that a team like the Mets could see R2C2 all week in a four game set! These guys are all potential 20 game winners, they have a mix of right left right left, and they have a Cy Young winner and a WS MVP amongst them!
One thing has alluded the Roys and Cliff Lee however, that world series bling. Lee has been one step away the past two year, and the Roys went to the NLCS this year finally tasting glory after years on below average teams fuddling around in futility. Cliff Lee made the decision to put his money on the best horse out there (even if it is 30 million dollars less). The Phillies had to be the favorite (again) in the NL up until early this morning, but now they are arguable the favorite in the MLB. They have their playoff rotation set, and they can pretty much pick a fan out of the stands for their pitcher every 5th day. The offensive fire power and defensive prowess, plus this absolutely dastardly pitching rotation combined with the benefits that these innings eaters will provide for the bullpen has the Phillies with their most potent combination they have had in their recent division success.
This final paragraph has a lot less to do with the Phillies, and a lot more to do with the Yankees suffering and how much I absolutely love it. Now light years behind the Red Sox, and with an up-and-coming Blue Jays squad, and a proven Rays team (given they will be Crawford-less), the Yankees are poised to drop off of the face of the baseball universe. They think age is a problem in Philadelphia? Cashman and company just gave seven years to thirty six year old not-what-he-used-to-be shortstop Derek Jeter and resigned formerly-clutch-half-octogenarian-closer Mariano Rivera. Their pitching rotation has two no-names accompanied with two underwhelming names in Burnett and Hughes, and an ace with injury problems. Not to mention the Sox have picked up a stud hitter in Gonzalez whose numbers are bound to go up now out of the hitter’s hell that is San Diego, and Carl Crawford a perennial top 10 outfielder who gives them a spark at the top of the order. If the Toronto Blue Jays manage to snag Zack Grienkie, the Evil Empire could finish, dare I say, fourth in the AL East. Tampa is still good, even without Crawford, and with the Jays and Sox improving, will NY get left behind? Rumor has it that Theo Epstein actually tried to take Joey Blanton of the Phitins to free up cap space so Philly could sign Lee! What a kick in the gonads to the Bronx Bombless!
It’s only December, but I think next November Broad Street will be celebrating a Phillies win over Red Sox nation
Thanks Theo.
-Mike Serra (@MikeSerra90)
People are already starting to talk about how the Giants have a better pitching rotation and are still going to beat the Phillies in the post season. I guess they forgot that we were heavy favorites in the series and the Phillies lost the series more than the Giants won it. I can't wait until this upcoming season and I hope we sweep the Giants and shut up everyone on the west coast. I hope Werth is happy with all of his money, too bad he has no interest in actually winning like Cliff Lee.
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