Previewing the Yankees-Angels series position by position

Catcher

Jorge Posada and Jose Molina vs. Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis

Jorge Posada and Jose Molina make a more formidable tandem. Jorge has great offense, and Molina has a great rapport with A.J. Burnett. Jorge, mostly known for his offense, has hit .308 against the Angels, but Jose Molina has hit only .038 against the Angels. The Yankees will only need Molina to catch Burnett.

Mike Napoli has very good power, as evidenced in his 20 home runs in 100 games started. In seven games started he has batted .500 against the Yankees. His back up, Jeff Mathis has batted only .143 against the Yankees.

Edge: Yankees. The combination of Jorge Posada and Jose Molina are too much.

 

First Base

Mark Teixeira vs. Kendry Morales

Mark Teixeira is having an MVP season, but hits poorly against the Angels. He’s hitting .225. Morales is having a poor post season, but he has great power, and bats well against the Yankees. He’s batting .375 against the Yankees in 10 games.

Edge: Even. Mark doesn’t hit the Angels well, and Kendry hits the Yankees great. Mark has been performing exceptionally well in this post season.

 

Second Base

Robinson Cano vs. Howie Kendrick

Robinson Cano is having a great year against the Angels, and had a great year in general. In the regular season he batted .341 against the Angels, and has 14 hits in 10 games. It looks like he’ll get on base against the Angels.

Howie Kendrick has played in only 105 games. but had the most RBI of his career with 65. He’s having a poor post season, and he’s no Robinson Cano.

Edge: Yankees.

 

Shortstop

Derek Jeter vs. Erick Aybar

Derek Jeter is playing like Derek Jeter in the playoffs, and is hitting .333 against the Angels.

Erick Aybar is having a great post season, and started the rally against the Red Sox in Game Three. He hits decently against the Yankees with a .286 average.

Edge: Yankees. Jeter wants another championship.

 

Third Base

Alex Rodriguez vs. Chone Figgins.

Chone Figgins can steal a base on you at any time, and hits the Yankees pretty well with a .333 average. He’s having a poor post season, but scored eight runs against the Yankees in 10 games this year. He was also involved in the final runs against the Red Sox. He can get on base and steal at any time, as evidenced to his 42 stolen bases.

Alex Rodriguez has turned into a god in the post season. I can’t believe it. He’s batting an unheard of .455, with two meaningful home runs, and six RBI in three games. A-Rod is hitting .333 against the Angels.

Edge: Yankees. There’s not doubt that this is A-Rod’s playoffs. He owns it.

 

Right-field

Nick Swisher vs. Bobby Bye Bye Abreu

Bobby Abreu is destroying the playoffs. To say he’s playing great is an understatement. He bats .333 against the Yankees.

Nick Swisher could be up and down, and he did not hit well against the Twins. He did not hit well against the Angels this year either, with a .211 batting average.

Edge: Angels. Bobby Abreu is just a better player than Nick Swisher, and is hot while Nick is cold.

 

Center Field

Melky Cabrera vs. Torii Hunter.

Torii Hunter overachieved most of the season, and hit the Yankees poorly with a .233 batting average. He will steal a base on you, and is one of the best fielding center fielders in the game.

Melky Cabrera has had an average season during the year, but has hit the Angels very well with a .393 batting average, and has a high on base percentage against the them batting .485.

Edge: Even. This could go either way during the series.

 

Left-field

Johnny Damon vs. Juan Rivera

Where has Johnny Damon gone? He played terribly against the Twins batting only .083. The worse news, is that he batted .121 against the Angels in the regular season.

Juan Rivera had a very good year for the Angel,s but has only batted .222 against the Yankees. He hit against Boston just like he did in the regular season. He was consistent.

Edge

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