American League Championship Series
New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Yankees and the Angels only needed the minimum of 3 games to advance to the Championship Series. You expected this from the Yankees against the Minnesota Twins but you would have thought that the Angels needed to put in a bigger effort to dispose of the Boston Red Sox in order to get to this Series.
The Yankees are considering a 3-man rotation, weather permitting, with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte. As outstandingly as they pitched in the ALDS, I don’t believe this is going to happen and expect a fourth starter to be added to the rotation. In this case Chad Gaudin will be the likely choice, further fuelling speculations that Joba Chamberlain’s future is in the bullpen.
Mike Scioscia is going to use the same 4 pitchers he had in the rotation for the ALDS but he is considering starting a left-hander at Yankee Stadium in order to keep the ball in the park. That would make Joe Saunders the starter in Game 2 and Jered Weaver would start the first home game in Los Angeles instead. John Lackey will be on the mound when the series starts on Friday.
I like the Yankees rotation better, especially if they can keep the speedy Angels off the bases. Their starters were virtually unhittable with a .203 BAA and had a 1.42 ERA.
The Yankees bullpen had to pitch 10 innings in 3 games, as opposed to 6.1 innings for the Angels, and looked vulnerable at times but Mariano Rivera has been as dominant as ever.
The bullpen of the Angels was supposed to be their weak spot but Darren Oliver and Brian Fuentes did not give up a single run. Fuentes converted both save opportunities. The Red Sox were only batting .174 against the Angels’ bullpen.
Imagine a bullpen with Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera. Clear advantage for the Yankees.
The Yankees did not bat all too well against the Twins and had a batting average of only .225. One thing I can say for sure though, they do not have to worry about left-handed pitchers. They have the best line-up in all of baseball and can hurt you from any spot in the batting order. Mark Teixeira might want to step it up a notch though. He had a .231 OBP in 13 plate appearances.
Like the Yankees the Angels have a very well balanced line-up and can produce from top to bottom. They showed a weakness against southpaws against the Red Sox, whereas they roughed up Sabathia as well as Pettitte in the regular season. Bobby Abreu, a former Yankee, turned out to be the acquisition that could bring the Angels closer to winning a World Series title.
Both teams possess very potent line-ups but a slight advantage goes to the Yankees.
Prediction: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-2.
this article is courtesy of novafantasysports.com
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