Phillies-Rockies scouting report

Join Daily News baseball writer Paul Hagen for a live chat before Game 1 of the Division Series today at noon on philly.com

FIRST BASE 

Rockies: Todd Helton. He has played in five All-Star Games, is a .332 lifetime hitter and has 303 career homers. He's also above average on defense. But, maybe since he's also played in 1,578 games without making the postseason before this, Helton's profile isn't as high as it should be. He's the player the Rockies rally around. "When you have a player who has meant as much to a franchise as Todd has meant to the Rockies . . . it makes what we are going through that much more meaningful," Matt Holliday said recently. "Most of us have been around 3, 4 years and we think about the struggles we've been through. Todd's been playing 10 years waiting for this."

Phillies: Ryan Howard. The conventional wisdom coming into the season was that Howard would have a hard time matching his .313-58-149 MVP numbers of 2006, but could still have an outstanding year. And that's pretty much what happened. While his batting average went down (to .268) and his strikeouts went up (from 181 to a major league-record 199) he still finished second in the league in both homers (47) and RBI (136). And he showed signs of coming on strong at the end, hitting .412 with seven homers and 16 RBI in the last 10 games.

ADVANTAGE: PHILLIES

SECOND BASE

Rockies: Kaz Matsui. A switch-hitter, he generally faces only righthanded pitchers, although he's expected to get the start in Game 1 against Cole Hamels today. During the season, he had only 70 at-bats against lefties, hitting .271, compared with .291 vs. righthanders. He ended the season in a 9-for-43 (.209) slump, but the Rockies were 10-1 after he returned from the DL (right hamstring pull). He was also successful on 32 of 36 stolen base attempts. Jamey Carroll picks up most at-bats against lefties.

Phillies: Chase Utley. When he signed his 7-year, $85 million contract before the season, Utley promised it wouldn't change his take-no-prisoners approach. It didn't. He had a career-high 48 doubles, despite missing a month of the season with a broken hand that probably cost him a shot at the NL MVP Award, but he never missed a beat after returning to the lineup. Against lefthanders, he batted .318, including .349 after June 4.

ADVANTAGE: PHILLIES

SHORTSTOP