From the Windup: Potential Postseason Pitfalls for Playoff Teams

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday -- it's running Friday this week.

Earlier this week, Brad Lidge's nightmare 2009 season continued, when he allowed a walk-off homer to Andrew McCutchen. Ed Price covered the outing the following morning. The abysmal performance by the Phillies' closer underlines the only weakness of the defending World Series Champions.

Look at the Phillies. Their offense is stacked. They are first in the NL in runs and OPS. They have a menacing lead in National League home runs with 181 (the Rockies, with 150, are second). They have speed, play sparkling defense, have good bench depth and deep, talented starting pitching.

Then, you have the closer. What if Lidge doesn't get things figured out? Brett Myers wasn't an overly reliable closer in 2007. No one else back there in the 'pen appears to have closer's stuff. The Phillies could be faced with a devastating postseason if they routinely enter the ninth inning with a one or two run lead. It's a problem they have five weeks to fix, but it certainly needs fixing.

Here are some concerns for the other seven teams who would qualify for the postseason if the playoffs started today.

Red Sox - They have a good offense on the whole, but consistency is a problem. David Ortiz is hitting for power, but he's still only hitting .230. They aren't going to get anything offensively out of shortstop. J.D. Drew and Jason Bay have been fickle this season and Mike Lowell is up-and-down. Even Jacoby Ellsbury only has a modest-at-best OBP (.343) for a table-setter. They can count on Kevin Youkilis, Victor Martinez and Dustin Pedroia, but what if everyone else goes away in October? The defense to start most games is also a concern, but the Sox have enough bench players to make changes and protect leads in the late innings.

Angels - Pitching. Pitching. Pitching. The offense is consistent, powerful and speedy. They get on base. They play solid defense. Yet, only the Indians and Orioles have a worse team ERA than the Angels in the American League. There's still time for John Lackey and Ervin Santana to get on track for the playoffs, but the bullpen would remain shaky. As things stand, the position players better be ready to have a great run in October -- both at the plate and in the field.

Dodgers - Did they peak too early? The offense and starting rotation have each been slumping a bit lately. I'm not worried about the offense, because there is far too much firepower there to just go away for an entire series. What about the lack of postseason experience among starting pitching? Clayton Kershaw is only 21 and hasn't started a playoff game before. Randy Wolf, believe it or not, has never pitched in the postseason. Chad Billingsley started three times last October, but he was crushed twice by the Phillies. Hiroki Kuroda (currently hurt) and Charlie Haeger (knuckle-baller with no postseason experience) are the other options. Fortunately for the Dodgers, they have Joe Torre making the decision as to who starts each game.

Rockies - The way they've been playing since Jim Tracy took over, it's hard to really pinpoint one drastic concern. Looking at their playoff pitching rotation, though, is where you start to see question marks. Ubaldo Jimenez has been a bonafide ace for the past four months, but he's only 25. He does have three postseason starts in his career, though, so it's entirely possible he steps up. Jason Marquis is having a career year, but it's inexplicable. Can he continue it in October? Aaron Cook is hurt and not exactly dominant when healthy. Jorge de la Rosa? Tenuous. There's more depth here than front-line talent. I'm also not sure about Tracy as a postseason manager, but I thought he'd make a sub-par regular season one.

Tigers - This is a team with the potential to get swept in the postseason in all low-scoring games. They just don't have enough on offense, even with Curtis Granderson and the great Miguel Cabrera. They are especially bad against right-handers -- sporting a paltry .326 OBP against them.

Cardinals - At this point, it's pretty difficult to say they have any concerns. This is scary team the way they are playing at present. I can only think of two questions to even ask: 1) Can the offense outside Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday come through in the fall? 2) Are their setup relievers up to the task?

Yankees - Again, I'm inclined to say nothing. They are firing on all cylinders and have been since May. But, remember, the regular season and postseason are two different things. Joe Girardi has never managed in the postseason before. Alex Rodriguez has been brutal in postseason play since the Red Sox began their historic comeback in the 2004 ALCS. CC Sabathia has a career 7.92 ERA in the postseason, and was lit up by the Phillies last season in his one start (3 2/3 innings, 5 earned runs). A.J. Burnett has never played in the postseason (he was hurt for the '03 Marlins). These are just a few examples. The team as a whole needs to prove they can come through in October the way they have in the regular season, because the pinstripers haven't won it all since 2000, and there aren't many of those guys left.

Obviously, every one of these teams has lots of strengths. If that wasn't the case, they wouldn't be in the position they are. But the playoffs are when a minor weakness can become glaring and the margin for error is smaller than ever. Just ask my beloved '08 Cubs -- who won 97 regular season games and got swept in the NLDS. Those who can limit the damage done in their weaker areas will be in the best position to take the title home.

We still have five weeks left and anything can happen. In the meantime, these teams need to work on fixing their potential pitfalls while still maintaining their respective places in the standings.