Sabathia will succeed tonight

While the Angels picked to use a four-man rotation, the Yankees have chosen a three-man rotation. There is no general right or wrong answer for all the teams. The decision varies for each team based on the starting pitching depth.

In my mind, both team’s picked the right move here. The fourth starter for the Angels, in this series it’s Scott Kazmir, has had a long history of success against the Yankees. The fourth starter for the Yankees would have most likely been Chad Gaudin. Gaudin’s only postseason experience is three games out of relief for the Athletics in 2006.

CC Sabathia is the perfect guy to start on short rest. Everyone knows he is capable of doing it because of his dominance last year in Milwaukee on three days rest. However, this year he hasn’t been asked to start on short rest once, so he’s fresh. And of course, he is by far the best weapon the Yankees have to throw at the Angels.

Sabathia faced the Angels lineup four nights ago. Kazmir faced the Yankees lineup 27 nights ago, and it was completely different from what he will see tonight. He won’t be facing Shelley Duncan in the No. 5 slot, or Jerry Hairston Jr. in the two hole.

Still, it will be tough for the Yankees to score a lot of runs off Kazmir because of his past success. It will be a close game, but Sabathia has the advantage.