ALCS Breakdown: Lineups & Rotations

Thanks to Cliff Lee and Ian Kinsler we now know who the Yanks have to face to get back to the World Series.  If the regular season was any indication, it should be a very close series.  Let's take a look at the matchups, eh?

Yankee Lineup:

We all know the drill now after the last series.  The Yankee lineup is deep, talented, patient, and has the flexibility to match up well with any pitcher, regardless of which hand he throws with.  There really are no weak spots or easy outs anywhere 1-9, and even with Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner not showing a lot of pop in their bats in the ALDS, they can still work counts, they can still put the ball in play, and they are both adept at going the other way.  When you can do those things well, there is always the potential for good things to happen.  The Yankee lineup also showed it's ability to score runs however they have to, either by mashing (Teix, Berkman, Thames) or by playing smallball, stealing bases, sacrificing, and stringing hits together (C-Grand, Gardner, Jeter).  And if The Horse gets hot in this series, watch out. 

Texas Lineup:

One of the few lineups that can stack up with that of the Yankees in terms of power and talent, the Rangers can run out a 1-6 that is just as dangerous on paper as anybody's with Elvis Andrus, Michael Young, Josh Hamilton, Vlad Guerrero, Nelson Cruz, and Ian Kinsler.  But the Ranger lineup does have a soft underbelly when you get to the 7-9 spots, as the combination of Mitch Moreland, David Murphy, Julio Borbon, Jeff Francoeur, Bengie Molina, and Jorge Cantu doesn't strike fear into the hearts of anybody and didn't hit particularly well against Tampa.  When you look at the numbers, there really wasn't a lot of production from the Texas lineup as a whole outside of Cruz and Kinsler, who combined to go 16-38 with 2 2Bs, 6 HRs, and 9 RBIs in the division series.  Hamilton, Guerrero, and Young will need to pick it up if the Rangers plan to hit with the Yankees over 7 games. 

Yankee Rotation:

 We know it's going to be CC, Andy, Phil, and A.J. in some combination, most likely from one of these 2 scenarios, and we know CC will be starting Game 1.  He was the weakest performer of the 3 that started in the division series, but should rebound against Texas, especially if he pitches on shorter rest, something he has excelled at throughout his career.  If Pettitte and Hughes can come close to matching what they did against Minnesota, that should be enough to overcome the potential A.J. meltdown in Game 4 or Game 5 that will linger over this series like a burrito fart in a small apartment.  These 4 had mixed results against the Rangers in the regular season, so it will be interesting to see how they approach the Ranger lineup.

Texas Rotation:

Thanks to their series against Tampa going the distance, the Yankees won't have to face Cliff Lee until Game 3.  The downside of that, though, is that he would line up to pitch Game 7 if it came to that.  The rest of the Texas rotation (C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis, and Tommy Hunter) pitched well in the ALDS, but didn't provide a whole lot of length.  Wilson lasted just 6.1 innings despite being very effective, and Lewis and Hunter only combined for 9 innings in their 2 starts.  All 3 have swing-and-miss stuff, but aren't particularly efficient.  They will make mistakes in the zone and they will walk people, which are 2 things that get you in big trouble against the Yankee lineup.  It will be interesting to see what Ron Washington does with Cliff Lee if his team faces elimination in a Game 6.