Yankees Daily

I’d like to see C.C. Sabathia pitch games one, four and seven, A.J. Burnett pitch two and six and Andy Pettitte pitch three and five.

I would like to have a rain out for one of the first two games so you can give me the two lefties at home against the Phillies powerful line up of lefties made up of Utley, Howard and Ibanez. All three of those guys have immense home run power. I don’t want Burnett, a fly ball pitcher, pitching against them at Yankee stadium.

We might not have a choice however. Please, rain rain, don’t go away, please come back, another day. Yes, before game two so Pettitte could pitch the day after it rains.

I don’t trust Gaudin to start in this series because he hasn’t started a game in almost a month. I also don’t trust Joba to start. He’s been too inconsistent.

I’d still like Molina to catch Burnett and I’m sure there will be at least one rain out which would make it easier for C.C and Pettitte.

Scouting the infielders

Catcher:

Jorge Posada vs. Carlos Ruiz.

Carlos Ruiz

He’s an excellent defensive catcher but is not a good offensive one. He doesn’t have great regular season numbers but can deliver the clutch hit when needed.

He hit very well against the Dodgers batting .385 with one home run and four RBI in 13 at bats. He also walked five times.

Jorge Posada

Jorge Posada has good regular season numbers for a catcher but had a poor series against the Angels. He’s batted .200 with one home run and one RBI. He can hit the ball out of the park at anytime to tie or win the game and doesn’t choke in the spot light.

Advantage: Yankees. Even though Jorge won’t catch every game in the World Series, the Yankees will use him off the bench after Burnett leaves the game. He’s a threat every time up.

First Base:

Mark Teixeira vs. Ryan Howard

Now this is what you call a match up.

Ryan Howard

Ryan Howard will struggle against left-handed pitchers but can carry a team for long stretches if he gets hot. He strikes out, a lot.

He had big clutch hits against the Dodgers and was named the NLCS MVP. He batted .333 with two home runs and eight RBI to go along with five runs scored.

Mark Teixeira

A MVP regular season candidate. He is a switch hitter and has more power from his left side than his right. He can be streaky at times.

He did not hit well against the Angels batting only .222 with no home runs and four RBI with two runs scored in 27 at bats. He can hit a game tying or winning home run at anytime and is dangerous.

Advantage: Phillies Slight edge to Ryan Howard because he was named NLCS MVP.

Second Baseman:

Robinson Cano vs. Chase Utley

Chase Utley

His defense would be his weakness but that’s improving. He’s the best hitting second baseman in the game.

He hit poorly against the Dodgers batting .211 with no home runs, one RBI and three runs scored in 19 at bats.

Robinson Cano

Has one of the best left-handed swings in the game, with tremendously quick hands. Eats fastballs a live and mauls right-handed pitching. Has a good arm. He doesn’t run well on the base paths and has limited range at second base.

He did not hit well against the Angels batting .261 with zero home runs, four RBI and three runs scored.

Advantage: Phillies. Chase Utely is the best second baseman in MLB.

Short-stop:

Derek Jeter vs. Jimmy Rollins

Jimmy Rollins

Has decent power for a short stop evidenced by his 21 home runs. He has great range and a great arm. He also has instincts, hustle and speed on the base-paths.

He did not hit well against the Dodgers batting only .227 with no home runs and three RBI in 22 at bats.

Derek Jeter

He’s a phenomenal clutch player and is smooth on the base-paths. His instincts are also first-rate. One of the best players in the series. He has limited range in the field and hits into a lot of double plays.

He hit ok against the Angels. He batted .259 with two home runs and three RBI but also walked six times in 27 at bats. He scored five runs.

Advantage: Yankees

Derek Jeter will always come through in the clutch in the playoffs and will make that unbelievable play when you need it most.

Third base:

Alex Rodriguez vs. Pedro Feliz

Pedro Feliz

Has considerable power and run production and is a solid defender who can play anywhere. Has an ugly walk/strikeout ratio and doesn’t hit right-handed pitchers consistently.

He had a terrible series against the Dodgers batting .118 while hitting one home run and two RBI in 17 at bats.

Alex Rodriguez

One of the best hitters of all time. He’s a great athlete that hits for contact and power.

He dominated the ALCS with a .429 batting average and had three home runs with six RBI to go along with a team high eight walks in 21 at bats. He scored six runs.

Advantage: Yankees.

This is the biggest mismatch on paper.

Lineups

Angels (2 – 3) 1st in AL West Season Stats | Roster | Tickets		Yankees (3 – 2) 1st in AL East Season Stats | Roster | Tickets
Starting Lineup Season | Postseason Name AVG HR RBI SB 1. C Figgins, 3B .298 5 54 42 2. B Abreu, RF .293 15 103 30 3. T Hunter, CF .299 22 90 18 4. V Guerrero, DH .295 15 50 2 5. K Morales, 1B .306 34 108 3 6. H Kendrick, 2B .291 10 61 11 7. J Rivera, LF .287 25 88 0 8. J Mathis, C .211 5 28 2 9. E Aybar, SS .312 5 58 14 Name AVG HR RBI SB 1. C Figgins, 3B .065 0 1 0 2. B Abreu, RF .267 0 2 0 3. T Hunter, CF .276 1 5 1 4. V Guerrero, DH .333 1 6 0 5. K Morales, 1B .200 2 7 0 6. H Kendrick, 2B .313 1 1 1 7. J Rivera, LF .188 0 2 1 8. J Mathis, C .538 0 1 0 9. E Aybar, SS .321 0 3 3		Starting Lineup Season | Postseason Name AVG HR RBI SB 1. D Jeter, SS .334 18 66 30 2. J Damon, LF .282 24 82 12 3. M Teixeira, 1B .292 39 122 2 4. A Rodriguez, 3B .286 30 100 14 5. J Posada, C .285 22 81 1 6. H Matsui, DH .274 28 90 0 7. R Cano, 2B .320 25 85 5 8. N Swisher, RF .249 29 82 0 9. M Cabrera, CF .274 13 68 10 Name AVG HR RBI SB 1. D Jeter, SS .314 3 5 0 2. J Damon, LF .211 2 3 0 3. M Teixeira, 1B .171 1 4 0 4. A Rodriguez, 3B .400 5 11 1 5. J Posada, C .308 2 3 1 6. H Matsui, DH .269 1 5 0 7. R Cano, 2B .212 0 5 0 8. N Swisher, RF .103 0 1 0 9. M Cabrera, CF .303 0 4 0
Starting Pitcher Name W L ERA* WHIP K J Saunders 16 7 4.60 1.43 101		Starting Pitcher Name W L ERA* WHIP K A Pettitte 14 8 4.16 1.39 148

Out of all the players on the New York Yankees that had walk off hits in the starting line up, Derek Jeter isn’t one of them. It would be nice to see him wearing some pie tonight at around 11:00 PM.

It would be nice if the Yankees destroyed the Angels but if they are going to win a close game, it might as well be won by Derek Jeter.

The Cowboys beat the Falcons. I know that’s not going to happen. The Cowboys have no leadership and are just a bad team.

The Yankees go to the World Series. What a perfect night that would be.

The deadly killer of baseball blogs.

Since the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels are playing Sunday, that means Andy Pettitte gets his usual five days rest.

A.J. Burnett is available out of the pen tomorrow night.

The rain out stopped the Angels’ momentum since they were feeling pretty good about themselves.

If there is a game seven, John Lackey will start on short rest.

Joe Saunders will start tomorrow’s game.

Us Yankee fans continue to wait to see if we go to the World Series.

I’m watching the Yes Network and Joe announced that Swisher is going to start because he’s their regular starter. Let’s hope it works Joe.

Andy Pettitte: Andy Pettitte is 37. He was 14-8 with a 4.16 ERA during the regular season for the New York Yankees. Andy has faced the Angels in the series and gave up three earned runs in 6.1 innings of work for the no decision.

During the regular season, Andy has started three games against the Angels and was 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA. He had eight total walks and six strike outs.

He has tremendous movement on all his pitches especially his cutter that moves in on right-handed batters. His problem is that he consistently averages one hit per inning.

Joe Saunders: Joe Saunders is 28. He was 16-7 with a 4.60 ERA during the regular season for the Los Angeles Angels. Joe has faced the Yankees in the series and gave up two earned runs in seven innings of work for the no decision.

During the regular season, Joe has started two games against the Yankees and has a 4.72 ERA. He had two total walks and six strike outs.

He uses a solid fastball and change-up to keep hitters off balance, and challenges them. His problem is that his pitches become too predictable and gives up too many hits

Advantage: Even. You do know that both pitchers are going to pitch well but one team is going to get the breaks and one team is not.