ALDS PREVIEW: Yankees VS. Tigers

Yankees VS. Tigers:

LINEUP YANKEES:

1. Derek Jeter

2. Curtis Granderson

3. Robinson Cano

4. Alex Rodriguez

5. Mark Teixeira

6. Nick Swisher

7. Jorge Posada

8. Russell Martin

9. Brett Gardner

LINEUP TIGERS

1. Austin Jackson, CF

2. Wilson Betemit, 3B

3. Delmon Young, LF

4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B

5. Victor Martinez, DH

6. Alex Avila, C

7. Magglio Ordonez, RF

8. Jhonny Peralta, SS

9. Ryan Raburn, 2B

Though both have great lineups, but there is a major difference in their power numbers. Two through five in the Tigers lineup has hit a total of 62 home runs, with Miguel Cabrera hitting 30 of them. The Yankees two through five hitters have hit 134 home runs. Also, the Tigers two through five hitters have driven in a total of 318 runs, while the Yankees two through five hitters have a total of 410 RBI's. This shows that the Yankees lineup can produce more runs then Detroits.

ADVANTAGE: Yankees

ROTATION YANKEES

1. CC Sabathia

2. Ivan Nova

3. Freddy Garcia

ROTATION TIGERS

1. Justin Verlander

2. Doug Fister

3. Max Scherzer

Though Ivan Nova has been great for the Yankees, he went 16-4 with an ERA of 3.70 during the regular season, Freddy Garcia has not been great of late. His September ERA is 7.36, though his last start against Boston was great as he threw six shutout innings.
The Tigers, led by eventual Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander, have two very solid starters to follow, as Fister had a September ERA of 0.53. Scherzer has had his good and bad moments, but is solid overall.

ADVANTAGE: TIGERS

BULLPEN

Though they are pretty evenly matched in terms of the back end, as the Tigers have Al Alburquerque (ERA: 1.87) in the 7th, Benoit (ERA: 2.95) in the 8th, and Valverde (S: 49, ERA: 2.24), who has't blown a save this year.
The Yankees on the other hand have Rafael Soriano in the seventh (ERA: 4.12), David Robertson in the eighth (ERA: 1.08), and the great Mariano Rivera as the closer (S: 44, ERA: 1.91).
The difference maker in this category is that the Yankees have so much depth with Wade, Ayala, Hughes, AJ, and Logan. None of these guys are weak links.

PREDICTION: YANKEES IN 4

The Yankees have more offensive depth and a better bullpen. Their rotation is also good enough to keep them in the game.