2008/10/20

The DH should be.....



The Tampa Bay Rays are our opponent in the World Series. Now that Charlie has picked our 4-man rotation, he will keep it the same as the Dodgers series. The one thing left to decide is the DH, as 4 games out of 7, we will need to use a DH. The Rays only have one left-handed starter, in Scott Kazmir. He will definitely pitch Game 1 or 2. How this hurts the Phils, is that we really do not have a solid right-handed bat off the bench. Chris Coste is the best player at the plate, however, needs to stay on the bench in case of injury to Ruiz. Due to this fact, we believe that Charlie should make Pat Burrell the DH for all games in Tampa, and play Dobbs out in left. Greg Dobbs has started in left field 3 times this season, and 4 times in right field, so he has the outfield experience. Dobbs has to be a defensive upgrade, not a huge upgrade, but we will no longer have to put Bruntlett out there in the bottom of the 7th/8th inning and possibly lose Burrell's bat in extra inning. Also, with Dobbs pinch hitting every day, it allows for Bruntlett to pinch hit when you need a right handed bat, and you would still have Jenkins and Stairs from the left side. There are a couple other scenarios the Phillies could choose to go with, such as Ryan Howard at DH, and Dobbs playing 1st base. However, we fell as if Dobbs playing left field, with Pat Burrell at DH gives the Phillies the optimal offensive and defensive lineup. The Phils lineup would look like this:

1. Rollins- SS
2. Victorino- CF
3. Utley- 2B
4. Howard- 1B
5. Burrell- DH
6. Werth- RF
7. Dobbs- LF
8. Feliz- 3B
9. Ruiz- C

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