The Philadelphia Phillies continue their march in the MLB Playoffs as they will face off against the San Diego Padres in the NLCS. Philadelphia narrowly snuck into the postseason but have upset both the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves en route to this matchup with San Diego. Neither the Padres nor the Phillies hold much of a discernible advantage heading into this series. However, San Diego has home field advantage which will undeniably give them a boost.

But can the Phillies still take care of business and purchase their ticket to the 2022 World Series?

Here are 3 bold predictions for the Phillies in the NLCS vs. the Padres.

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Zack Wheeler shines, pitches 3 times for Phillies

Zack Wheeler is the scheduled Game 1 starter for Philadelphia. Barring a start on short rest, he likely will not pitch again until Game 5 if the series goes that long. The Phillies' playoff rotation against the Braves consisted of Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, and Noah Syndergaard.

But this bold predictions doubles down into 2 different predictions as I am banking on this series going 7 games. The Padres and Phillies are fairly evenly-matched and this projects to be a competitive series.

With Zack Wheeler set to start Games 1 and 5, Philadelphia could use him out of the bullpen in a potential Game 7. It will be a short rest outing and he won't provide much in the way of innings, but he could give the ball club 1-3 innings of work out of the bullpen depending on pitch count.

Nick Castellanos finds his rhythm, is Phillies' most valuable offensive player in NLCS

Nick Castellanos enters the NLCS slashing just .217/.280/.261 with a lousy .541 OPS. With players such as Bryce Harper swinging the bat well, will Castellanos actually be the Phillies' most valuable offensive player?

The Padres are going to place their focus on getting Harper out. Additionally, they will not want top of the order hitters like Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins to beat them. This may lead them to take Nick Castellanos for granted which will backfire.

Castellanos is an excellent hitter who admittedly endured a down 2022 season. But he's someone who can quickly find his rhythm and produce elite results at the plate.

Phillies win NLCS in 7 games

The Phillies are going to have their work cut out for them. The Padres are riding high after upsetting the Dodgers in the NLDS. But the exact same can be said for Philadelphia following their victory over the Braves in the NLDS.

Philadelphia's starting pitching isn't as deep as the Padres. But their duo at the front-end of the rotation is arguably the best remaining in the postseason with Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola leading the charge. The Phillies' bullpen flies under the radar but is formidable, and the offense features no shortage of power.

In the end, we can sit down and look at stats. But when it comes to the MLB Playoffs, momentum is key. And the Phillies are simply playing an incredibly effective brand of baseball at the moment. They made a tremendous Braves team look downright bad at times last series. The same can be said for their treatment of the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card Series.

The Phillies are hot and have their sights set on the winning the World Series in 2022.