Obviously if the Dbacks want to play their way into the World Series, they will need their best players to be their best players. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly need to be better than Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. Corbin Carroll needs to be more impactful than Bryce Harper. Paul Sewald needs to match Craig Kimbrel. But let's look a little deeper. If the Dbacks are to keep the good times rolling, these are the three keys.
3 Keys To Dbacks Series Win
Ketel Marte
No player helps transform the Dbacks lineup from pretty good to downright dangerous like Marte. His power always seems to ignite the offense and the Dbacks will need it in this series. Marte has also been prone to long droughts of no power; at one point this season when the Dbacks were really scuffling, Marte had 2 HR’s in a 23 game span. So far in the postseason, Marte has had a hit in all 5 games, 2 HR’s and a very good .984 OPS. If Marte can keep that up and even go up a level, the Dbacks heart of the order can rival that of the Phillies.
Miguel Castro
Imagine this: It's the 6th inning of a 1 run game with the Dbacks trailing in the series by the game - and here comes Miguel Castro. Have you broken out in a cold sweat? Castro looms as a vital piece of a long 7 game series. He’s only pitched twice in the postseason but that’s largely thanks to truncated series lengths. Castro entered the postseason with a streak of 14 straight scoreless appearances but many Dbacks fans still associate him with a terrible July/August that saw Castro go from high leverage reliever to mop up duty. In this series, with the starting pitching completely up in the air for Game 4, Castro could be counted on for several innings of NLCS work.
Road Warriors
Statistically speaking, the Phillies have the best home field advantage in MLB postseason history at Citizens Bank Park with a record of 26-11. This is one of those rare stats where the eye test and the numbers tell the same story. Philly fans have been electric for the pennant race and playoffs. Sometimes the Philly crowd can eat their own but in this instance, the Phillies have a bunch of dudes who thrive under the home field pressure, which is a dangerous combination. Obviously with just three games scheduled at Chase Field, the Dbacks are going to have to win at least one game on the road to win this series. I’d argue the Dbacks HAVE to win one of the first two games on the road to win the series.