Unlike baseball, football may need a kicker to prevail a team to win a close game. All a baseball team need is a batter and a great swing, or a pitcher with clutch one, two, three strikeout pitches.
The Philadelphia Phillies have four aces going into Spring training for the upcoming 2011 Major League Baseball season. Roy Halladay (21-10), Cliff Lee (12-9), Roy Oswalt (13-13) and Cole Hamels (12-11) all had double digit wins last season, and will be in rotation for the Phillies in the 2011 season.
Many fans believe that with the return of Lee, the Phillies have the best pitching core and should be given the World Series trophy without having to play the long MLB season with the addition of playoff games. Great pitching will make any Major League team a World Series contender, but batting and defending is just as important to a team's success as pitching is.
Despite Phillies' aces, the departure of right fielder Jayson Werth, who is now a member of the Washington Nationals, has put a huge hole in the Phillies outfield and its hitting percentage. Werth's .298 BA, .388 OBP, 106 Rs and 85 RBIs from last season will be missed and needs to be filled immediately if the Phillies want to get back to the World series.
Nonetheless, the Phillies pitching will be a key to a number of their wins this season, and the load of ninth inning clutch pitches will be split up into fours among the Philly aces.
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