Tigers vs. Yankees: ALDS Similarities Go Beyond Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia

Friday's ALDS face off in New York between the  Yankees' CC Sabathia and the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander is more than just a pitching matchup that would stir Cy Young from his grave in excitement.

It also underscores the vast similarities between these two World Series hopefuls.

A tale of two baseball crazed cities, if you will, though much more one in the same than two apart.

The comparison necessarily begins with Sabathia and Verlander, the unquestioned aces of their respective teams' starting staffs.

The former a Cy Young winner in 2007 and the latter set to earn his first for his efforts this season, both are anchors and losing streak stoppers surrounded by an assortment of castoffs and unproven youngsters with earned run averages around and above 4.00.

For Sabathia, that crew includes former No. 1 types Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and A.J. Burnett along with future ace Ivan Nova.

Verlander's companionship, which features the likes of Brad Penny, Max Scherzer and Rick Porcello, had been even shakier until the Tigers acquired Doug Fister from Seattle just ahead of the July 31st trade deadline.

That being said, the Tigers will still lean heavily on Verlander to bring home the bacon at least twice in this series, as will the Yanks on Sabathia.

As far as bullpens go, Jose Valverde may not have anywhere near the track record to compare himself to Mariano Rivera (who does?), but he's had as good a season as any closer has had in recent memory.

Valverde notched a ML-best 49 saves in 49 chances this season, marking the third time in his career he's completed 40 or more games without blowing one.

That being said, Mo's peripherals (1.91 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 2.19 FIP) are markedly better than Valverde's (2.24 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 3.55 FIP) and were achieved while playing in a much tougher division.

If there's any department in which both of these teams are undoubtedly strong, it's hitting. New York's lineup isn't exactly Murderer's Row, but it's pretty darn close.

The Pinstripers boast two MVP mashers in Curtis Granderson (41 home runs, 119 RBI, 25 stolen bases) and Robinson Cano (.302 batting average, 28 homers, 118 RBI) along with six other players with double-digit dingers, chief among them Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez.

And that's without even mentioning the clutch postseason play of Derek Jeter.

The Tigers are no slouches, though, with AL batting titlist Miguel Cabrera, a mashing shortstop in Jhonny Peralta (.299 batting average, 21 homers, 86 RBI) and the two best hitting catchers in all of baseball in Victor Martinez and Alex Avila.

Neither team is known for flashing much leather either, though that hasn't kept Jeter from earning Gold Gloves by default in recent seasons.

All told, then, both teams were essentially built to win big in the regular season behind powerful offenses and more-or-less average pitching.

At first glance, the edge in this series would seem to go to Detroit. No pitcher in the AL has been as dominant this season as Verlander, who should be able to outduel Sabathia to get two wins for his Tigers.

Then again, it's easy to forget that, once again, Verlander's special season came against subpar competition, with an ERA well over 4.00 against AL East foes.

On a team level, though, neither side has much to write home about with regard to pitching performances against the other. 

With the Yankees and the Tigers being so evenly matched, this series figures to go the distance. Expect plenty of hitting from both sides, with just enough pitching to push Detroit into the ALCS.

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