3 Reasons Why the Yankees Will and Will Not Win the World Series

Well, it has been a long 6 years but my Yankees are finally back in the Series. The Phillies may be the defending champions but you can bet that the Yankees will be up for this series and force them to give everything they got. Scouring over some message boards, I am completely floored at the arrogance of some Phillies fans. I have seen many, many posts saying that the Phillies are going to win the series in 5 games. Really?? That means they have to beat CC at least once AND win with Pedro starting. That also means Cole Hamels has to not implode in Game 3. Quite a tall task if you ask me. I think anybody making that prediction is seriously underestimating the Yankees. With that introduction, here are my three reasons why the Yankees will win and will not win the World Series.

Why the Yankees will win…

CC / 3-man rotation

The fact that the Yankees get to use CC Sabathia 3 times in this series is huge. He has been pitching out of his mind and will be able to go toe-to-toe with Cliff Lee, assuming they pitch him thrice as well. AJ Burnett worries me on the road (similar to the Phillies and Cole Hamels) but in Game 2, I expect a great start out of him. Pettitte has been incredibly solid this entire postseason as well. Yeah, they’ll have a big time line up to go against but I know that they can hold their own.

Pedro Martinez

I was almost giddy with excitement when he was named the Game 2 starter. He has never been that great against the Yankees in the postseason (1-2 record, 4.72 ERA) and now he is 6 years older. Not only that but he has not been tested at all this year. Yeah, he pitched well against the Dodgers but that offense was reeling and is not really that great to begin with. Also, he pitched against NOBODY in the regular season. His only decent starts during the season came against the Mets, Nationals and Giants. Those are 3 of the worst offensive teams in the league. I fully expect the Yankees to tee off on him in Game 2 and hopefully Game 5 as well. Not only that but if the Phillies want to use Cole Hamels twice, that means he is going to have to pitch in a pivotal Game 6 in the Bronx. Regardless, whenever Pedro takes the mound, it will be great theatre.

Mark Teixeira

Cold for pretty much the entire playoffs at the plate, he started to heat up at the end of the ALCS and that is great news for the Yankees. When he is on, the Yankees are nearly unbeatable. A-Rod is also helping this too by protecting him in the order. The Phillies are going to have to throw Teixeira strikes unless they want a man on base when A-Rod comes up. That is what got the Angels in trouble towards the end of the ALCS. Also, I would be remiss not to mention his defense at first base. He is going to win the Gold Glove this year and I am certain his defense alone won them a handful of games this regular season.

Why the Yankees will lose…

Phillies Lineup

It is pretty good. And has been great this postseason. The Angels provided a good warm-up for the Yankees in the ALCS (Yankees and Angels were #1 and #2 in runs scored during the regular season) so I feel like the starters will be ready. But that does not stop the fact that they need to get through Rollins, Howard, Werth, etc. etc.

Stranding runners

Did it wayyyy too much in the ALCS. The Yankees did get better late in the ALCS but I worry about them putting the first couple guys on and then doing absolutely nothing. They may need to rely on the long ball a bit in a game or two.

Bullpen

Thought to be a strong point heading into the postseason, the bullpen has somewhat shaky thus far. Then again, I could be wrong here. Their ERA this postseason is 2.28…but I feel like they have been living on the edge for a lot of the postseason. Joba and Hughes have not been pitching nearly as well as they were down the stretch of the regular season. Rivera does have the second best ERA this postseason (0.84 behind Lee’s 0.74) but Game 6 proved that runs can be scored off of him. I also just have terrible memories of him blowing the clincher against Arizona in 2001.

One way or another, this is going to be an amazing World Series. I would be very surprised if it does not end in a Game 6 or 7 in the Bronx. As for my prediction? I think the Yankees will pull off #27. But not before an epic Game 7 showdown.