NLDS Preview, Part I

In addition to the interview below with Jeff Sackmann of Brew Crew Ball, I'd like to alert readers to check out a copy of Wednesday's Sports Weekly, usually found in WaWa, Barnes & Noble, etc, and published by USA Today.  I've got a small blurb in there regarding the NLDS which starts tomorrow.

Finally, check back for Part II of the BS&S.com NLDS preview, a statistical examination of what works in the playoffs and what doesn't.  Hopefully Billy Beane will be reading.

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According to Jeff Sackmann's author page at BrewCrewBall.com, "Jeff Sackmann may not be the biggest Brewers fan in the world, but he is very possibly the most verbose. He consults for several major league teams. He is also the creator of Minor League Splits and co-creator of College Splits. He also writes for The Hardball Times and Beyond the Boxscore and contributes to the fantasy magazine Heater."

Given that resume, who better to ask about the Milwaukee Brewers, the Phillies' upcoming National League Divisional Series opponent?  Jeff was gracious enough to answer some of my questions before visiting Philly for Games 1 and 2.  In return, I answered some questions regarding the Phillies pitching at BrewCrewBall.com [link].

First things first.  Will Ben Sheets be available to pitch in the playoff series?  Who will take his place and how much of a fall off will there be from Sheets to his replacement?

Sheets is out.  At this point, it's tough even to say who the replacement is.  We lost Sheets, Manny Parra hit an innings pitched wall and dropped out of the rotation, so at this point, it's a game of seeing how much Sabathia can pitch until his arm falls off.  And,
unfortunately, seeing Jeff Suppan start once.  That could be nasty, especially against a powerful team like the Phils...but hey, Suppan has worked some playoff magic before, so maybe he's got some more in him.

I know that C.C. Sabathia only pitched half of a season in the National League, but don't you think he deserves the Cy Young?  Not only did  he dominate opponents from Day 1, but also, down the stretch, he did so on short rest.

If I had a vote, I'd give it to CC.  I respect the opinions of those who don't want to give the award to someone for a half-season, but at the same time, maybe we need some kind of non-league based, SuperCy award.  If that existed, he would certainly deserve that.  I've run out of superlatives for this guy--as you can see, I have to make up fake awards just to do him justice.

Given Sabathia's schedule in recent weeks of pitching on short rest, what do you expect from him in the playoffs?  Does he have anything left? As a Phillies fan, I'm scared to death of him.

With any other pitcher, I'd be worried about the workload.  With CC, I'm not.  In his last two outings, both on short rest, he struck out a total of 18 guys in 16 innings, against three walks.  I wouldn't have minded keeping him closer to the 100 pitch mark on Sunday (he went to 122), but again, for him, I don't think it's that big of a deal.  I'm not expecting domination--after all, the Phillies are hardly the Pirates--but he'll certainly keep us in ballgames.

Last season, the Phillies squeaked into the playoffs on the final day of the season, had a raucous celebration, and the hangover was a prompt dismissal, swept by the Rockies in three.  Many of the players, in hindsight, have said they didn't have the focus then that they have this year.  Do you worry about the Brewers having the same kind of troubles this year that the Phillies had last year, given the similarities in the way they got into the post-season, the relative inexperience with post-season play, etc.?

I wish I had more insight.  I do suspect that Doug Melvin thought about that as he was putting the team together over the last couple years.  We've got postseason heroes Suppan and Craig Counsell, along with vets like Ray Durham and Mike Cameron, who've been there and back.  I'm not counting on Corey Hart to play like a major leaguer--he hasn't done that since the All-Star Break, but between the vets and the unflappable Ryan Braun, I don't think the team is going to fall apart.

If Ned Yost wasn't fired a few weeks ago, would the Brewers have been able to rally and make the playoffs?  Would it have been in spite of him or because of him?

Tough to say.  At some point, Ned would've started doing really crazy sh*t, which is kind of what Sveum did when he took over.  We may never know what kind of dugout influence Yost was, but I can easily imagine that he took a tense, pressure-packed situation and made it worse.  As for in spite/because of ...I have to go with "in spite." 

What can you tell us about Gallardo, the Game 1 starter for the Brewers?

If he pitches well, he could be the story of the series.  He had an impressive (partial) season as a rookie last year, but tore his ACL in his fourth start back in April.  He fast-tracked the rehab, just joined the team a few day ago, and made one successful abbreviated start.  I wouldn't expect more than six innings from him, maybe only five, but since it looks like he brought his 'A' game back with him, he has the potential to be as good as CC on any given day.

Care to make any predictions?

The postseason is a crapshoot, right?  I'm putting my chips on 31 black.