Less Verlander is good news for Yankee fans
Last night’s rain out was certainly a bummer for most Yankee fans. We were all excited to get the 2011 playoffs underway, a feeling that was a mix of hope and nervousness facing a pitcher like Justin Verlander. But with CC on the mound and the game being at home, you felt good about the Yanks chances to keep it close and maybe win it late. We heard there was rain in the forecast, but it wasn’t supposed to be enough to affect playing conditions all that much, let alone suspend the game. I live roughly 6 miles from Yankee Stadium, and watched in bewilderment as the ballpark was pelted with heavy rain as I stayed bone dry here in Bayside, Queens. Scattered showers, indeed. I didn’t even get a hint of rain until almost 9:00 PM, and even then it wasn’t the type of downpour that would preclude you from playing baseball. When officials said they were taken by surprise at the extent of the downpour, I believe them.
The rains may have dampened the mood of Yankee fans, but they were a catastrophic turn of events for the Tigers. All season long, many fans and media pundits were cautioning the Tigers ALDS opponent on the dangers of ‘facing Verlander twice in a 5 game series’. That’s over now. Jim Leyland announced last night that he has revised ALDS rotation, while Joe Girardi confirmed just his next two starters while giving hints which way he was leaning for the remainder of the series. The match ups are as follows:
Game 1 (resumed)-Fister vs Nova
Game 2-Scherzer vs Garcia
Game 3-Verlander vs Undecided (likely Sabathia)
Game 4-Porcello vs Undecided (likely Burnett)
Game 5- Fister vs Nova (on regular rest)
These are the announced pitching plans, though it should be noted CC Sabathia said on the post game he was going to lobby his manager for that Game 2 match on Sunday. He only threw 27 pitches last night, but he went through his full warmup routine complete with long tossing. With a day off today, he considers it a throw day and has always preferred more work to less. If Girardi relents, CC would be available to pitch twice in the series, coming back on short rest for Game 5. Nova’s performance tonight may go a long way toward deciding how receptive the manager is to his ace’s plea.
As for the Tigers, the rain screws up their entire plan. Verlander doesn’t like pitching on short rest, and Leyland has ruled it out from the outset, no matter what the circumstances. Now they will feature Doug Fister twice in the five game set. Fister, not Verlander, is now targeted by the Tigers for pitching the most innings in the series. They also have a lesser issue with their lineup for this evening’s contest. Since league rules force the game to be resumed and not rescheduled, now the Tigers have their lineup for a Lefty facing a Righty starter in Nova. The difference in the lineups would be that the Tigers would ordinarily start Wilson Betemit at third against a right-hander instead of Brandon Inge. The Yankees don’t face this issue, since the entire Tigers rotation is right handed.
The rain out may have been deflating for Yankee fans excited to get the post season underway, but upon further examination it may be an enormous break for them in this series. If you’re like me, you prefer to see things settled on the field by the players and not be influenced by extraneous factors. But in a few days we could be saying that a random thunderstorm making its way through the New York City area may have been the turning point of this series.
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It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature, nor do I trust Mother Nature to fool with us. CC pitching twice sounds good, but how will it affect his availability in the next series? It’s an uphill haul to make it to the top.
MLB is giving both teams the chance to reset their rosters becasue of the rainout. Think the Yankees should add Colon?
If you assume that Girardi will listen to CC and pitch him on Sunday, then this could be an advantage for the Yankees. That is unless CC is affected by going through a full warmup and pitching 2 innings, then coming back on 1 day of rest and again 3. But if Girardi pitches CC on Monday, then the rainout is an advantage for the Tigers. They lose a Verlander start and replace it with a Fister start, while the Yanks lose a CC start and replace it with an AJ start.
AJ’s got it in him: go long, Yankees!
Cashman stated today there is no chance CC pitches before Monday. I was hoping for Sabathia to come back Sunday. I understand why they don’t want to do it, but I think partly rested CC is always better than a fully rested AJ.
I’m not sure if this is any better or worse for either team, but I do know Burnett pitching in the first round of the playoffs isn’t good for us no matter how you slice.
At least we know if we make it to the CS Sabathia will be on the mound game, something not assured if he pitches game 5 of the DS. Though with if it goes 5 we may not move on, having a rookie in an extremely pressure packed situation.