Addition of Lee, Martinez Have Phillies As NL Favorite

Everyone can forget about the Dodgers being favorites in the National League like they have been for much of the season.

The only thing that was keeping the Phillies from possibly repeating as World Series champions was their weak starting rotation. Well, you can go ahead and toss that out the window.

The additions of Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez have completely transformed the Phillies from wild card hopefuls, to easily the NL favorites.

Before the Phillies revamped their pitching rotation, they were still one of the best hitting teams in all of baseball. Not only has their offense gotten even better over the past month, but now even Cole Hamels and J.A. Happ are pitching lights out.

I never thought I would say this, but the Phillies rotation may be better than the loaded Giants rotation.

Speaking of the Giants, they witnessed first-hand tonight just how dangerous the Phillies are by being dominated by Pedro Martinez. Martinez is now 3-0 with a 3.52 ERA. Not bad for being out of the game for almost a year.

Cliff Lee, which won his first five starts before finally losing on August 29, gets the start tommorow against the Astros.

With the exception of the Cardinals, there is no team in the NL that will even come close to defeating the Phillies in the playoffs.

For all the Dodgers fans out there, you may be wondering why I have suddenly jumped ship on them. Well it's no mystery that they have cooled off dramatically since the All-Star break. They'll be lucky if the Rockies or the Giants don't catch them in the standings.

The Phillies are now the most balanced team in all of baseball and that is what wins championships in all sports, not just baseball. So brace yourself Phillies fans becasue it should be another great postseason.

Phillies NL Ranks

Home Runs 85 (1st)
Runs Scored 666 (2nd)
Doubles 255 (T-2nd)
Slug PCT .449 (1st)
ERA 4.12 (6th)