Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Naik
EDIT: It's going to be Lee/Pedro/Hamels in games 1,2, and 3 for the Phillies. Hamels hasn't been pitching all that well this year, so that gives the Yankees an edge in game 3.
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I think starting pitching is a wash. Sabathia is great and Lee is great, everyone else is very good, but not a guaranteed win for either team.
Pedro is a nice match-up for Burnett. Both can either be great or totally fall apart.
Hamels and Pettite are another nice matchup because they again are not guarantees given age (Pettite) and past performances (Hamels).
The bullpen is supposed to be the Yankees ace in the hole, with Mariano Rivera right at the top. However, they are an inexperienced bunch. Jaba and Hughes have been inconsistent, not nearly as dominant as they were in the regular season. Sometimes they just looked awful. Ace, Robertson and Cole are still good, but they've been shaky as well. The only sure thing is Mariano, but can you keep going to him for multiple innings?
As for Girardi. I don't like how he is playing with stats. He pulls pitchers that are doing good with two outs in the inning to bring in another reliever. Really? That's what you think is a good idea? Two outs and a man on, bring in a new pitcher with only slightly better numbers against a hitter? How about letting your pitchers pitch? That's my biggest beef with him. He has a reputation of managing his pitchers--better than Torre ever did--but he is over-managing in these playoffs.
But as long as he doesn't pinch-run for Alex Rodriguez again, it would be hard for me to call all of his decisions horrible.
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