Playoff Time

Once again it is time for MLB Postseason to remind us that baseball is still going on. For the 22 teams not competing, fear not, football season is in full swing. For the eight teams in the race, however, football will be on the back burner for at least another week. Here's an idea of how things should/could/might shape up in both leagues.

We will start with the National League because the Rockies and Phillies get under way in a about an hour. In this rematch of the 2007 NLDS, pitching is most certainly the biggest question. The Rockies are without Jorge De La Rosa who lead their team in wins (16) during the regular season. Philadelphia's bullpen is a mess and Cole Hamels has struggled all season. However, they still have Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ who can eat innings and win ball games. Colorado has Ubaldo Jimenez going in Game One and Aaron Cook in Game Two. With the destructive left-handed bats in the Phillies lineup, this could easily be a sweep. Don't count out the Rockies though, they've been here before and did pretty well for themselves. Pick: Phillies in 4.

The other National League bout is a good one, pitting arguably the two best hitters of the last decade, Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez, against one another. Once again, pitching will be the determining factor. The Cardinals have two of the best in NL in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright . It isn't a stretch to say that they could win both games in LA, meaning they'd have to win only one of two at home. For the Dodgers, they have veteran Randy Wolf going in Game One, following that with youngster Clayton Kershaw in Game Two. It is important to note that both pitchers are left-handed and could present problems to leadoff hitter Skip Schumaker (.220 vs LHP in '09) and Colby Rasmus (.160 vs LHP in '09). Schumaker must get on in order for Pujols and clean-up hitter Matt Holliday to be effective. Still, the Cardinals are a much stronger team than the Dodgers, but if youngsters Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and James Loney can produce like they did in the regular season this team could get back to the NLCS for a second consecutive year. Pick: Cardinals in 5.

Stay tuned for the AL Playoff Preview coming later.