Mailbag: Yankees' pitching will be downfall
Sabathia won't be enough, as NY doesn't have arms to win World Series
APA.J. Burnett hasn't shown the consistency to make him a postseason threat, NBCSports.com contributor Tony DeMarco says.
updated 3:42 p.m. ET Sept. 27, 2011
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? Matthew Bowler, New York
Facing Justin Verlander twice in a short series will be a tall order. The Yankees also have hit left-handed pitching better than right-handed pitching this season, and the Tigers will feature an all right-handed playoff rotation, including a very-hot Doug Fister.
That contrasts the Texas Rangers, who will have at least two ? and possibly three lefties ? in their playoff rotation. Not coincidentally, the Yankees pounded on the Rangers in the regular-season, holding a 7-2 series edge with a +27 run differential.
The Rangers' home ballpark also is much more homer-friendly than Detroit's Comerica Park, and the Yankees rely on the long ball more than anybody.
The AL series matchups are going to be very important. Remember, if the Red Sox do survive and win the wild card, they beat the Yankees 12 of 18 times this season.
But more so than at any other time, the playoffs are about starting pitching. The most-dominant starting pitching usually translates to the World Series winner. And that's why it will be very hard for me to pick the Yankees to come through the AL playoffs, let alone win another World Series.
Q: Verlander is getting a lot of attention for the AL MVP Award, but how about the season his teammate, Miguel Cabrera, has put together?
? Brian, Ann Arbor, Mich.
A: I'm not a big proponent of pitchers' winning MVP awards, but there are legitimate exceptions to every rule. The last time the Tigers won it all, a closer ? Willie Hernandez ? was the AL Cy Young and MVP winner; and Hall of Fame closer Dennis Eckersley won both awards in 1992.
But for me, in both of those cases, there wasn't an outstanding position player MVP candidate, and that cleared the way for Hernandez and Eckersley. And that's not the case this season, when Cabrera, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jose Bautista have had MVP-type seasons.
Hernandez got 16 of 28 first-place votes in 1984, when amazingly, Royals closer Dan Quisenberry finished third overall in the MVP balloting. That left Minnesota's Kent Hrbek (.311-27-107) as the highest finisher among position players, while the Tigers' Kirk Gibson finished sixth and Alan Trammell ninth.
Eck also won easily for the 1992 Oakland A's, getting 15 of the 28 first-place votes ? including mine ? and outdistancing Kirby Puckett (.329, 19 HRs, 110 RBIs, 17 SB, Gold Glove), while three key hitters from the World Series-champion Blue Jays ? Joe Carter, Roberto Alomar and Dave Winfield ? totaled nine first-place votes between them.
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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44689370/ns/sports-baseball/
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