As the NLCS prepares to kick off Thursday night in LA, Big League Stew takes a look at five early storylines.

1. Which Manny will show up?:At this point, I expect that half of the Stew's readership will chime in and finish that question with "Yeah, the Manny with fertility drugs or the one without?"

Excellent take folks, but I've moved past that and am currently wondering whether the Dodgers will see the Manny from NLDS Games 1 and 2 (1-for-8) or the Manny from the clinching Game 3 against the Cardinals (3-for-5, two doubles, two RBIs)?

With the emergence of Andre Ethier(notes) and Matt Kemp(notes) as productive hitters, Los Angeles doesn't need to solely look to Ramirez like it did during last year's NLCS (when he hit .533/.682/1.067 with two doubles, two homers and seven RBIs).

However, if the Dodgers want  to unseat the defending champs, Man-Ram will definitely have to recreate more than just the "fight" from last fall.

2. Ryan Howard(notes) and his friends are good at baseball: "Big Brown" is sure to get a lot of press after keying the Phillies comeback in Game 4 and hitting .375 , but let's make sure he doesn't hog the spotlight. Chase Utley(notes), Shane Victorino(notes) and Jayson Werth(notes) were all rocksmashers against Colorado and if the quartet continues to play like this, it'll be hard for the Dodgers to mount a defense. 

3. The Dodgers' pitching staff is underappreciated: Chris Carpenter(notes) and Adam Wainwright(notes) got all the press going into the NLDS while everyone fretted over the Dodgers' supposed lack of an ace. Then, over the next three games, the Dodgers' pitching staff racked up a 2.00 ERA (just behind the Yankees' best mark of 1.55) and completely shut down the St. Louis offense. Los Angeles fans will probably have to suffer through another round of Cliff Lee(notes)-Cole Hamels love while their Dodgers fight for ink, but there's nothing wrong in harboring such a well-kept secret until the late innings come around.  

4.  Can Brad Lidge(notes) be lights out?: The struggling Phillies closer has always said he believes things will work out in the end and he moved closer toward realizing that belief by recording four outs for a total of two saves against Colorado. No matter the outcome, he'll continue to be a huge storyline until the Phils' season is over and we'll see if all this talk about his rejuvenated cutter and slider is for real. 

5. Will the Dodgers exact revenge?: No doubt the biggest question out there. They will definitely have more on their side this time around — homefield advantage, a team that's a year older, etc. — but it's hard to take down the champ and the Phillies have added a fella name Cliff Lee since they last met with a NL title on the line. I expect the series will be a lot closer than last season's 4-1 Phillies win, but I'm waiting until Thursday to make my pick.

Related: 2009 postseason on the Stew, 2009 NLCS — Phillies vs. Dodgers