Pitching Preview: Champion New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Phillies

It’s the 2009 World Series all over again as the Yankees host the Phillies for three games in the Bronx.

The last time the Phillies were in town, the Yankees became world champions—a feeling Yankees fans hope to relive by beating the Phillies once again.

Both line-ups are stacked with power, from Utley to Posada.

Whether or not they decide to hit is the question both clubs can’t seem to figure out—a stark contrast to last season.

Pitching will decide the winner, so let’s break down all three match-ups:

Game One

Can we say pitching match up of the week?

Roy Halladay against CC Sabathia is a baseball dream—one which Phillies skipper Charlie Manual made sure would work by switching around the rotation.

Both Cy Young are winners and their respective staff’s ace but only one can win.

Roy Halladay is very familiar with the Yankees, playing for Toronto Blue Jays up until this season.

It was a very happy departure as Halladay wrecks havoc everywhere he goes. 

Halladay currently has made 15 starts, boasting an 1.96 ERA with 85 strikeouts, five complete games , one perfect game, and allowing only three home runs in 101 innings pitched.

His ERA against the Yankees is 2.84, but that includes A-Rod who is injured. A-Rod has had the most success by far against Halladay, batting just shy of .300.

Look for Robbie Cano to stir up trouble, as he has all season.

No doubt, the Yankees bats are hot but when Halladay is pitching no player is hot.

It’s Cliff Lee x2, yikes!

CC Sabathia has to bring his a-game to the mound or he will get eaten alive.

Sabathia seems to only be capable of beating the Orioles in 2010 but let’s not forget that CC is a second-half pitcher considering 14 of his 19 wins last season came after June 15.

This match-up is perfect for Sabathia to get back up to speed—the timing is right and he is a fierce competitor.

Just like Roy, CC has 13 starts with a 4.01 ERA with 69 strikeouts And although he has  allowed 12 home runs in 85 innings pitched, he has two complete games.

Not even comparable stats wise but CC is just as good and the Yankees hope this is his breakout game because once Sabathia gets on par he tears through batting line-ups.

Ibanez has fared well against CC but watch out for Jason Werth as this guy can hit.

Without their lead-off J-Roll, the Phillies are having major issues and are losing games.

For the first time in a long time, they trail the Mets and are in third place in the NL East .

The Phillies might be the wake-up call that Sabathia needs to shut batters down right from the start.

CC has the better team of the two to back him given the injuries to the Phils.

Winner/Loser:

Is A-Rod playing? And is Posada hurt again? Although these are big questions, it’s hard to bet against Doc.

Game Two and Game Three will be featured in Part 2 of this post because the above pitching match-up deserves to be on it’s own.

• Yankees to Face Halladay (bats.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Halladay's former Jay mates thoroughly impressed (thestar.com)
• Inter-league Games Between Two Unequal Leagues (ladylovespinstripes.com)
• The Doc Is Making a House Call, Halladay Set To Square Off With Sabathia (bleacherreport.com)