Post by Boston Red Sox on May 14, 2019 18:57:43 GMT -5
The Oldest Rivalry - Pitching Edition
--Boston, MA
With the deadline looming, let's look at both the Red Sox and Yankees in their eternal struggle to overcome the other. In our pitching matchups, we'll look at the rotation of each team. Currently the Yankees are leading the Red Sox by 3 games. Let's jump in!
-Rotation
| | Red Sox | Yankees |
| 1. | JR Richard | David Clyde |
| 2. | Roger Clemens | Scott Garrelts |
| 3. | Don Hood | Tom Hausman |
| 4. | Tom Hall | Dave Righetti |
| 5. | Brian Denman | Mike L. Griffin |
Aces
JR Richard vs David Clyde
Richard - 11-8, 3.81 ERA | Clyde - 13-5, 2.96 ERA
Edge: Clyde - Clyde is having the better season, and is also in his prime while Richard seems to be having a falling off year at age 36. Is this the end for Richard, or will he bounce back? Right now Clyde is looking to win this easily.
1A. #2
Roger Clemens vs Scott Garrelts
Clemens - 12-6, 3.85 ERA | Garrelts 11-3, 2.29 ERA
Edge: Garrelts - Garrelts is probably the best #2 pitcher in the entire league. Clemens is still young and showing signs of improvement but after a hot start has thrown some mediocre baseball in the middle of the season. Another guy who needs to turn it around in a big way to make this even a close debate.
Anchor #3
Don Hood vs Tom Hausman
Hood - 12-9, 2.95 ERA | Hausman 11-6, 2.84
Edge: Hood - Hood just flew into Boston from San Francisco, a team with a less than stellar record. Despite that, Hood has more wins than Hausman, who is pitching for the team with the most wins in the AL, while holding a similar ERA. Hausman knows the Red Sox well, as he was their Ace for a short period before being traded when the front office couldn't afford his massive contract in order to make some other changes the team needed to keep competing. This is definitely a close pairing, but if Hood performs like he did in San Francisco in his new home he'll definitely be looking at a very good campaign for the rest of the year.
Depth Time #4
Tom Hall vs Dave Righetti
Hall - 12-3, 2.97 ERA | Righetti - 12-6, 3.86 ERA
Edge: Hall - Hall is having a resurgent season, showing that he truly is a surefire hall of famer by not fizzling out after a disappointing 9-10 season for the 359 game winner and counting. He's going to go down as one of the best of all time, and a season like this is further proof of it. Righetti may have his best years ahead of him but Hall gets the nod here.
Both These Teams Have a#5? These rules must be working!
Brian Denman vs Mike L. Griffin
Denman - 11-5, 3.84 ERA | Griffin - 7-5, 4.13 ERA
Edge: Denman - Rounding out the rotations isn't an easy thing to do when you need to have 5 guys who can go out there every 5th day and perform at a playoff quality level. Denman is probably one of the best #5 pitchers in the league, because while Boston may not have the top end Aces the Yankees do, they are showing they are deeper in the back end of the rotation more and more the deeper we get into the rotation. Denman is probably only going to improve, since his recent talent increase hasn't fully developed yet.
Total Rotation Strength: Yankees - While the depth points go to Boston, the true Aces are what win in the playoffs, so considering both teams will absolutely be there in October, this edge will have to go to the team with the best built team for a playoff victory.
