Can Philadelphia Phillies Slow Down Diamondbacks in NLCS?

The Philadelphia Phillies will begin their National League Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday. This was a matchup before the playoffs started that looked good for the Phillies on paper, but can they slow this team down now?

On Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies will begin their second consecutive National League Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Both teams eliminated 100-win opponents in the NLDS round to get to this point.

Before the postseason started, it looked like these two teams could be matched up in the Wild Card series.

That ultimately didn't come to fruition as the Diamondbacks fell to the third spot in the Wild Card standings and faced the Milwaukee Brewers.

It would have been a matchup that the Phillies had the advantage on paper.

Now, with Arizona dismantling both the Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers, can Philadelphia slow down this team?

The Phillies have gotten a ton of attention for their performance in the NLDS round against the Atlanta Braves.

They now lead all postseason teams in RBI (31), hits (54), Slugging (.538) and OPS percentages (.892). They're also tied for the lead in home runs with the Diamondbacks (13).

Arizona's offense has been red hot in the playoffs as well.

They're tied for second in RBI (29), third in hits (44), second in Slugging (.530) and OPS (.877).

This is a dangerous offensive unit that mirrors what Philadelphia has done during the postseason.

If the Phillies want to slow down Arizona, their pitching staff will have to continue being dominant.

They're leading the postseason with a 1.53 ERA and are third with 50 strikeouts. Their WHIP of 0.91 and opponent's batting average of .188 are also the lowest in the playoffs.

It will be crucial that the starters continue to dominate opposing lineups and the bullpen continues to be shutdown when they're called upon.