Phillies should be fine against Mets as long as they don't start worst pitcher imaginable

The National League Division Series could not have lined up any better than it did. The four teams that are left in the NL are the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.

The Phillies and the Mets matchup in an NL East thriller while the Dodgers and Padres matchup in an NL West rivalry series. Two divisional rival matchups in the NLDS are better than anybody could have imagined.

The Phillies and the Mets are set to face off in one of the more competitive matchups of the entire postseason. They played 13 games this season with the Phillies winning seven and the Mets taking six. I wouldn't be surprised to see this series go to five games.

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Phillies path to NLDS victory rides through the pitching staff

The Phillies season has been run through the pitching staff, for the most part. This series will be no different than the rest of their season.

The top four pitchers in the Phillies rotation are Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez. These four have combined to go 7-3 in games against the Mets this year. A track record like that is certainly a positive sign heading into the five game series.

But the fifth starter, Taijuan Walker, is 0-3 on the year against the Mets. Walker has been the one pitcher in the rotation that's stuck out like a sore thumb all season.

The Phillies should be fine against the Mets, as long as they don't let the worst pitcher imaginable start.

Philadelphia has enough talent that they should be able to move on with a three- or four-man rotation, led by Wheeler, with Walker being a non-factor in this series. And Ranger Suarez has quite the history of being a clutch October performer, so a rotation led by him, Wheeler and Nola should be as good as you see in the postseason.

But, as we all know, it's October. It's playoff baseball. Anything can happen and any player can turn into a star when the lights are the brightest, even Taijuan Walker.