Detroit Tigers: Should They Fear the Yankees? Not a Chance!

Last night I was stopped by a guy on the street.

Now, this is Portland, Oregon and if you have ever been here, you would know that it is not a rare thing to be stopped on the street. Whether it be a street kid with his thousands of dollars in body art begging you for a dollar "brah," or someone that just wants to complain about the rain; this is just a weird town.

But in this case, I was stopped because of my old English "D" Tigers cap. He asked me what my thoughts were on the postseason, and who did I want to face.

Almost reflexively, we have been trained to look for the easiest opponent, so I meekly stated that I would rather face the Sox than the Rays. But then I gave him my real answer: I'm not scared of the Yankees, though, and I wouldn't mind playing them in the first round.

Now here is the surprising thing about this conversation. This gentleman was a Yankees fan from New York just in town for business, and he actually agreed with me.

He said that the Tigers were the only team in the playoffs that scared him, and he was just glad they had home field advantage.

Personally, I actually think it is a good thing that the Tigers start on the road in New York.

No matter how you slice it, playing in Yankee Stadium with its short left field porch will be a challenge. Not to mention the fact that their lineup is still littered with future Hall of Famers and battle-tested veterans. They are a team that is tailor-made for their stadium.

But there is actually an advantage in this disadvantage, a bit of lemonade from this proverbial lemon.

Sure, you have to play the first two games on the road in a tiny ball park, but for those two games you trot out two of the best pitchers in baseball. The Tigers will have the advantage against both of the Yankees starters, likely C.C. Sabathia and rookie Ivan Nova.

Justin Verlander is having a season for the ages and I will not go on and on about how impressive he has been. That is a given. But psychologically, the Yankees don't want to face Verlander. But more on that later.

In the second game, Doug Fister will come calling, and his lights out curveball will be a major challenge for New York, and Nova will have to deal with a veteran team of hitters.

This also allows for the Tigers to bring in their second tier of pitchers at home, where they will have the benefit of a raucous Detroit crowd. And given how inconsistent Max Scherzer has been on the road (5.23 ERA as opposed to 3.80 at home), the Tigers will need all the help they can get, and a deeper stadium with a riled up crowd certainly count as advantages.

The real wildcard will be Rick Porcello, but what else is new? Porcello actually pitches better on the road than he does at home (4.00 vs. 5.73), but he could be up against A.J. Burnett who has been a train wreck against everyone. But given the fact that the Tigers bullpen will likely be very fresh after having the work horses pitch the first few games, they may be able to afford to bring in some long relief if Porcello struggles.

At the same time, the last time Porcello was in a high-pressure situation—the one game playoff two years ago in Minnesota—he pitched well enough to win and looked to actually relish the pressure.

Heck, manager Jim Leyland may even elect to bring in Verlander on short rest, if he thinks he needs him.

But back to Verlander. The Tigers ace has an inherent advantage over the Yankees as he is built to face them.

The Yankees do two things really well—they are patient and they hit home runs. The pitchers that give them the most trouble are those that throw strikes. Verlander does that. He doesn't wait for you to chase bad pitches. He just makes his pitches and dares you to take them.

So you may ask why other pitchers don't do the same and the answer is simple, they are trying. But other pitchers can't throw at you what Verlander can throw.

Verlander has a repertoire that includes a 100 mph four seam fastball, a mid-90s two seam fastball that moves in on right handed hitters, a mid-80s curveball that looks like a fastball coming out of his hand, a very underrated slider that hovers in the high 80s and a changeup that looks identical to his fastball that comes out around 82 mph.

Most hitters come to the plate looking for one pitch in one location early in the count, but then play defensively and shorten up their swing when they get behind. But when the pitcher can throw what Verlander can throw at them, they essentially become defensive hitters right off the bat.

So while the Yankees can afford to sit on their favorite pitches against most teams, they will have to become more aggressive against Verlander, which will suit him just fine.

The problem with the Yankees is that they don't hit for average. Sure, they get on base in alarming numbers, but they do that by being patient and walking. But Verlander doesn't walk anybody, so this eliminates that advantage.

And sure, the Yankees will hit their share of long balls, its just the nature of their game and Verlander will give up his share as well, but they won't be three run shots, they will be solo home runs. Personally, I will take our chances with that lineup against our pitcher.

Fister has similarly excellent stuff, but he doesn't feature the speed. Instead, he will need to paint the strike zone and avoid throwing too many low breaking balls that tend to hit the turf when he gets gassed.

That being said, Fister is predominantly a fly ball pitcher and could be in trouble if he gets behind. But Fister also has been very stingy with walks, and his only game in Yankee Stadium this year was a good one in which he only allowed three runs in seven innings and walked only one batter.

Overall, I think the Tigers matchup very well with New York. I think Verlander will cruise in the first game, I think Fister will give us a chance to win in the second game, and I think Scherzer will rise to the occasion and pitch masterfully in the third game.

The key will be for Detroit to end it there. In a very short series, I love our chances. But I have no confidence in Porcello, and I think he will get lit up if the series reaches game four. And sure, we will have Verlander on the mound if we need a game five, but I just don't like final games in series. Anything can happen.

That being said, I really like our chances to sweep the Yankees in three games.