NL Division Series Previews

St. Louis vs. Los Angeles
Back in June, the Dodgers appeared to be well on their way toward their first pennant since 1988. They thrived in 50 games sans Manny Ramirez and everyone expected them to soar once ManRam cam back. Reality had other ideas and in their last 80 games, the Dodgers have been merely pedestrian. It took an implosion by Rockies reliever Franklin Morales to help LA clinch the division and avoid a tremendous collapse. Nevertheless, the Dodgers have an outstanding bullpen, a solid lineup with good power and speed and a shutdown lefty starting pitcher in Clayton Kerhsaw. Despite their sagging play, they are an excellent team.
The Cards have been the NL's hottest team in the last 100 games. The addition of Matt Holliday paid major dividends as St. Louis surged down the stretch. They boast a good lineup and two true aces in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.
Both teams are managed by Hall of Fame skippers so expect a crisp series with plenty of pitching changes and defensive replacements as the series rolls along.
The difference will be the starting pitching and the best player in baseball. The Cards top two will shut down the Dodgers and LA won't be able to keep Albert Pujols in check.
Cards in 4

Colorado vs Philadelphia
This promises to be a fantastic series and is one of two I'm most looking forward to. I truly enjoy watching the Rockies, who operate on a limited payroll and develop tremendous homegrown talent. They do it the old fashioned way and they do it very, very well.
The Phillies are every bit as explosive as they were in their title run last year. Their overwhelming weakness is a bullpen that is well below average. Closer Brad Lidge - or is he the closer? - had one of the worst seasons a reliever has ever had. To win, the Phils will need to build leads early in the games.
What stands out is the pitcher-hitter matchups. The Rockies are only a game over .500 against lefthanded starters and the Phillies have an abundance of southpaws. The only way the Rox can counter that is by forcing the starters to work hard and to get to the Phillies bullpen as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, two of Colorado's best starters, Aaron Cook and Ubaldo Jimenez are both righties. You have to think Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez will invite those matchups. The health of southpaw Jorge De La Rosa is in question as he has a groin injury. Should he be able to go in game three, and I expect he will, I think the Rockies keep it close. Still, Philly will be too much - this time around anyway.
Phillies in 4