Yankees-Phillies Pitching Comparison: Part Two

So here's the second, and final part of this series.

The Bullpens- This has been really the only dissapointment so far for the Yankees. What was supposed to be a huge strength has turned out to not really be all that great after all. Phil Hughes has not been nearly as good as he was in the regular season in the eight inning. Joba Chamberlain has also failed to become the shutdown reliever that people anticipated him being. I don't have all that much faith in the two lefties either, though I have to admit they've gotten the job done so far. On the bright side, David Robertson has gotten them some huge outs and I have to think that Girardi is going to go to him in some big spots now. And of course you can't forget about Mariano Rivera. The greatest closer in baseball history has shown no signs of aging so far this October. What he does blows my mind and their isn't anybody that compares. I have to think that Hughes is going to figure things out to. If he does get going then D-Rob, Hughes, and Mariano are going to be a very potent late inning combination. The newly added Brian Bruney is an X factor, as well. He's as inconsistent as anybody in baseball and they might just be able to catch lightning in a bottle with him in this final series.

The Phillies came into the postseason with a less heralded, but similar bullpen. Some of their stats are very similar to the Yankees. However, they lacked the big names that the Yankees possessed. For example, instead of the great Mariano, they have the enigmatic Brad Lidge closing games out for them. The guy is truly one of the oddest cases in all of baseball. Sometimes he appears to be among the truly elite closers in the game. Other times he's barely suitable as a mop up man. For most of this year Phillies fans saw the bad Brad Lidge who put up and ERA over 7.00. However, he's been dominating for them in the postseason. Its an interesting situation with Lidge, as it always seems to be. Ryan Madson is the other guy that will get a good chunk of the Phillies innings. He's been pretty good for three straight years now. His 3.23 FIP and 4.20 tRA won't blow anybody away but its solid enough. After that things drop off a bit. Unless we see some early exits from Phillies pitchers or extra inning games, the only other guy worth noting is Scott Eyre who could come in for lefties.

Despite the struggles of Hughes and Chamberlain in the playoffs, I give the Yankees a solid edge here. It really boils down to one guy, Mariano Rivera. Their just aren't enough superlatives to describe him. He's just the best, period. On the other hand, if you feel like the game's over when Brad Lidge comes into a game, you just haven't been paying attention. The Yankees will get that eighth figured out and both Coke and Marte can take care of any lefties that Philly throws at them.

Prediction- Yankees in seven- This is going to be the toughest obstacle this team team has faced yet. Against all the other teams they've faced, whether it be the Red Sox, Twins, or Angels, they've had the clear edge on paper. However, against the Phillies their is no clear-cut pitching advantage. The three Lee-Sabathia games are toss-ups, the Yankees should win the two Burnett-Pedro games, and the Phillies should take both of the Pettitte-Hamels games. Ultimately, I think the Yanks bullpen will help them steal that extra game or two they need. I think we'll see another pie or two before the season is over. I'm also picking Nick Swisher for World Series MVP.

Go Yankees!