The Yankees are coming! The Yankees are coming!

Remember when Colon was on the Sox?

So this may not seem like any kind of revolutionary post with the Yankees both literally (playing in Boston this weekend) and figuratively (now tied for first in the AL East) coming, but I swear I planned on writing this earlier in the week before they systematically destroyed the Chicago White Sox while Boston was busy playing Cleveland to a draw. At the beginning of the week, despite a 2 game lead in the division, I noticed that the Yankees had surpassed, by a decent margin, the Red Sox run differential. Run differential is how much a team has outscored (or been outscored by) their opponents on the season and it is generally a better predictor of future success than straight win-loss record. In addition, I was looking at each teams pitching staffs in the wake of the Erik Bedard trade (looked pretty good last night; most hits were pretty flukey; good velocity and good location) and what I noticed was pretty scary. Once thought to be a weakness for the Yanks, their rotation now looks strong to quite strong. Coupled with an offense only a tick below the Red Sox (only 12 fewer runs scored on the season), the Yankees may be the best team in baseball. 

Going into the season, the Yankees's rotation looked like the fictitious band Stillwater from Almost Famous. C.C. Sabathia was Billy Crudup’s Russell Hammond, the lead guitarist and most famous and talented member of the group. A.J. Burnett was Jason Lee’s Jeff Bebe, the outspoken lead singer who is easily overlooked. Phil Hughes, Bartolo Colon and Ivan Nova compiled the rest of the faceless band (although which one professes his homosexuality on the doomed airplane ride is something we’ll have to wait until October to find out). Which makes Billy Crystal Penny Lane, the number one band aid. Now as the season has progressed, it appears the group is much more well-rounded like the E Street Band. C.C. still stars as the Boss, but the rest of the rotation has emerged to fill the talented roles of Little Stevie, Max, Clarence (RIP) and Patti. Check out the ERA’s of the Yankees's top 6 starters:

Rk	Pos		W	L	ERA	IP	SO/BB
1	SP	CC Sabathia	16	5	2.55	176.2	3.60
2	SP	A.J. Burnett	8	9	4.54	142.2	1.95
3	SP	Freddy Garcia	10	7	3.22	117.1	2.35
4	SP	Bartolo Colon	8	6	3.30	109.0	3.38
5	SP	Ivan Nova	9	4	4.01*	98.2	1.50
6	SP	Phil Hughes	2	3	6.93	37.2	1.54
Rk	Pos		W	L	ERA	IP	SO/BB
		Team Totals	67	42	3.46	979.2	2.38
		Rank in 14 AL teams	2	13	2	8
Rk	Pos		W	L	ERA	IP	SO/BB

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 8/5/2011.

*Nova's ERA does not include last night's start. He is now at 3.81.


Now look at the Red Sox's top 5 starters, not including Clay Buchholz or Erik Bedard, whose ERA is 3.55:

Rk	Pos		W	L	ERA	IP	SO/BB
1	SP	Josh Beckett	9	4	2.20	139.0	3.30
2	SP	Jon Lester	11	4	3.17	127.2	2.88
3	SP	Tim Wakefield	6	4	4.99	106.1	1.81
4	SP	John Lackey	9	8	6.23	104.0	2.37
6	SP	Andrew Miller	4	1	5.36	40.1	1.00
Rk	Pos		W	L	ERA	IP	SO/BB
		Team Totals	68	41	3.91	983.2	2.30
		Rank in 14 AL teams	1	14	8	7
Rk	Pos		W	L	ERA	IP	SO/BB

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Generated 8/5/2011.

The Yankees's rotation has far exceeded the production of the Red Sox's rotation. The Yankees don’t have a number two as good as Jon Lester or Josh Beckett, but if Erik Bedard can’t assert himself as a strong number 3, the Yankees are better in every other spot. C.C. is having a better year than Lester and Beckett. Freddy Garcia and Colon appear to be the real deal and Nova has been pretty good as well and all three are waaaaay better than John Lackey. Burnett and Hughes are wild cards, but they are more sure things than Andrew Miller and Tim Wakefield. Unless Major League Baseball decides that stem cells are performance enhancing (I really hope they don’t), the Yankees will probably have a deeper rotation come October.

On a personal note, Sadie Sloe Gin, Lucia "My dogs are ruining my social life" Scott, Brendan  "My blood is 1/3 Taurine" O'Connell and I are attending Game 2 of the upcoming series. Expect a full "Through the Beer Goggles" recap on Monday. Hold on to your knickers, Red Sox fans, the season is about to get wild.