I was listing to Tom Verducci being interviewed by Ian O’Connor this morning, and one of their exchanges struck me as a good topic for a fun discussion. O’Connor asked Verducci if the Yankees should be hoping to avoid the Angels in the first round. Verducci scoffed at the idea, noting that the Angels are not like the Angel teams of years past, who won with their pitching. The 2009 Angels have some questions in their rotation and the bullpen, but have been tearing the cover off the ball for three months now, and are therefore not built like the prototypical playoff behemoth. This got me thinking: who would I least like the Yankees to face in the postseason?
My answer would be Boston. To me, the dream scenario is that Texas wins the WC over Boston, and the Central winner beats the Angels in the 1st round. This would leave the Yankees with a Texas-Central Winner road to the World Series. Why does Boston scare me? They have two pitchers at the top of the rotation with playoff experience who typically pitch well against the Yankees. The Yankees are the better team, but could find themselves on the wrong end of some one run games against those two starters. None of the other teams pitch or hit much better than the Yankees, which makes me less concerned about the Yankees’ chances against them in a short series.
Who would you be most afraid to face?
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
15 Responses to Discussion: Who Would You Least Like To Face In The Postseason
Leave a Reply
TIQ IQ
Detroit. Jackson, Verlander, and Porcello in the short series equals very scary. Maybe I’m too caught up in their triple digit fastballs but Detroit is definitely the only team I would be worried about facing in the playoffs.
Verlander Vs CC Sabathia
Jackson Vs AJ Burnett
Washburn Vs Pettitte
Porcello Vs Chamberlain
I see equal footing or an advantage in every game as far pitching goes and we already proved that our bull pen and offense are better than theirs, I wouldn’t mind facing them in the playoffs at all them and the Rangers are the two teams I think we match up best with.
I see where your coming from but my argument is that they have the only pitching staff that i can envision dominating us in a playoffs series.
Justin Verlander is the best pitcher on this list and if you get him twice in a series, its sayonara
The Angels are the only team that has ever “scared” me with the Yankees, everyone else in baseball we either have a better record than or am even record with but the Angels have the advantage in the series all time. They always run all over us and make us look bad, not to mention they had Arod demoted to what 6 or 7 in the batting order a few years ago.
I think you’re thinking of game 4 against the Tigers in 2006 when ARod batted 8th. Agree with you on the Angels.
With the Yankees of the last few years any team would scare me. We’ve lost to all of them. Not this year though. If they can stay healthy this team is a lot better than anything we’ve seen for a while. They have the best record in baseball for a reason and should have healthy respect for any opponent, but no fear.
That’s my take. Teams should fear US, not the other way around.
It’s scary how right you are about this subject Moshe. Let’s hope Texas holds onto that WC lead.
All of them are scary in a short set…anything can happen, and usually does.
The Rangers aren’t at all! The pitching staff just doesn’t match up
Sabathia Vs Millwood
Burnett Vs Feldman
Petitte Vs Holland
Joba Vs Tommy Hunter/Dustin Nippert
They just can’t match us stud for stud… I don’t even think we would lose a game in a best of 5 and I would only envision giving up one in a 7 game series.
Detroit scares me a litte-You have Verlander-Jackson-Washburn. For me Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball anyone who can throww 100 in the eight innning as a starter is insane. If I were Eiland I would make Joba wahtch tape after tape of Verlander
Two different horses, two different people.
I used to be afraid of the Angels, but no more. They are a different (hitting) team now, and the Yanks have the arms to beat them. Indeed, you could say that the Death Star is once again fully “armed” and opertaional. All rebels in the Yankee Universe are on notice: The Empire is about to strike back.
How the hell can you say “I used to be afraid of the Angels, but no more”?
Remember the last time these two played? Not only did they win all 3 games, they managed to beat the Yankees in humiliating fashion each game.