NewsPhillies-Dodgers matchup: Third base
Workmanlike Blake has edge over Phils' clutch Feliz
By Tom Singer / MLB.com
10/14/09 11:28 AM ET
Heading into the National League Championship Series between the Dodgers and Phillies, beginning Thursday at 8:07 p.m. ET on TBS, MLB.com looks at the position-by-position matchups and dissects which team has the advantage.
Casey Blake, Dodgers
.280 BA, 18 HR, 79 RBIs
Both third basemen in this series qualify as underrated on their teams and among Major Leaguers at the hot corner. A typically blue-collar Midwesterner, Blake is perfect in the lower half of the Dodgers lineup as a good situational hitter who can also flash power. It may not be ideal corner-infielder power, but he did rank fourth on the team with 79 RBIs.
MATCHUPS
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Catcher
C. Ruiz - R. Martin -
First Base
R. Howard - J. Loney -
Second Base
C. Utley - R. Belliard -
Shortstop
J. Rollins - R. Furcal -
Third Base
P. Feliz - C. Blake -
Outfield
Phillies - Dodgers -
Starters
Phillies - Dodgers -
Middle Relief
Phillies - Dodgers -
Closer
B. Lidge - J. Broxton -
Bench
Phillies - Dodgers -
Manager
C. Manuel - J. Torre -
Coaching Staff
Phillies - Dodgers -
Fans
Phillies - Dodgers
A spray hitter, Blake is finally over the sore left hamstring that knocked him out of the lineup at the end of the season. That was bad timing for the team, which had so much difficulty wrapping up the division title in his absence, and for Blake, who was on a .378 (14-for-37) tear when he was injured. He should be back to his old self in the NLCS.
That would do a lot for the Dodgers' prospects. Blake feasts on left-handed pitching, hitting a hard .320 against it: His OPS against southpaws is 1.005. He has never faced Cliff Lee, a former teammate in Cleveland, but is 4-for-14 off Cole Hamels and has two hits in three at-bats off Antonio Bastardo, one of the southpaws in Charlie Manuel's bullpen.
Pedro Feliz, Phillies
.266 BA, 12 HR, 82 RBIs
Feliz was obscured in San Francisco, and nothing has changed in two years in Philadelphia, where he has stabilized a position that had been unsettled before his arrival. In 2007, the Phillies had three players start more than 50 games at third (Abraham Nunez, Wes Helms and Greg Dobbs). Since, Feliz has been a fixture.
He has also been a weapon, driving in 82 runs despite a meager total of 12 home runs. That merely means he gets many clutch hits. Eleven other NL starting third basemen clocked more homers -- but only Ryan Zimmerman and Pablo Sandoval had more than his 154 hits, a high for his 10-year career. This is clutch: Feliz had 140 at-bats with men in scoring position, and converted them into 67 of his RBIs.
He can be pitched inside, which makes him unusual. But he prefers to swing with arms extended, making it easier to reach the alleys where he finds most of his extra-base hits. It is critical for pitchers to get ahead of him, which affords them to go to the offspeed pitches to which he is vulnerable.
Feliz can be erratic in the field, but excels in charging bunts or balls deadened in the dirt. Meaning, he is quicker than he is fast -- a common characteristic of third basemen. He is a prime candidate to hit into double plays -- he has grounded into 97 of them in the past six seasons.
EDGE: Dodgers
Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Change for a Nickel. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
