Wang and Sabathia: Ace pitchers on display in Yankee-Indians AL opener

But as for the rest? The details on Yankees ace Wang Chien-ming and Indians ace C.C. Sabathia? They are entirely different types of aces.

Wang is the right-handed sinkerball pitcher who gets out of jams by inducing inning-ending double plays. He is soft-spoken, both in his native Chinese and especially in English, even saying Thursday that the press conference made him more nervous than pitching in the playoffs. He gets loads of ground balls, allowing just nine home runs all season, but struck out only 104.

“He has a great demeanor about him, and he’s young and strong, and he’s got great stuff,” Andy Pettitte said. “What a combination. It’s the best sinker I’ve ever seen. Really, after watching him this year, I don’t ever worry about him, because he’s shown he can walk the bases loaded and then get a double play to get out of it.”

Sabathia is the left-hander who gets out of jams by causing batters to whiff — he struck out 209 batters this season. He is outgoing and emotional, though he has toned that down some this season. He led the majors in innings pitched, and his ERA ranked fifth in the American League.

“He’s come a long way,” Indians Manager Eric Wedge said. “C.C. is a different pitcher now than he was three or four years ago. He made some strong adjustments in really every facet of his game in the mid-part of ‘05. And he’s just been able to carry that through. And he tweaks this and tweaks that and continues to get better. He’s quite a leader on our ballclub. On and off the field.”

The Yankees have not faced Sabathia, who made his major league debut at age 20 in 2001, since 2004. So although they know how good he is, they haven’t seen it up close and personal.

Sabathia held left-handers to a .203 batting average this season. Just three of the 20 homers he allowed were to lefties. He was so dominant that Yankees Manager Joe Torre considered tweaking his lefty-dominant lineup to start rookie Shelley Duncan over Hideki Matsui.

“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game today,” Derek Jeter said. “It’s going to be a challenge to face him.”

Sabathia said his approach against the Yankees will be: “Just to throw strikes. They take a lot of pitches. They’re a patient team. They have a lot of veteran hitters. I’m going to attack the zone with my pitches and try to make them put it into play early in the count.”

But it’s not all about Sabathia for the Yankees hitters. As long as Wang keeps them in the game, they have a chance.

“That’s what Wang’s job is,” Torre said, “to try to keep things close, and hopefully we win the ball game. It’s not necessary for us to beat Sabathia, as long as we win the game.”

Of course, the Indians have a pretty stout bullpen as well, notably Rafael Betancourt and Rafael Perez, who have a combined ERA of 1.55.

The Yankees are perfectly comfortable pitting Wang opposite Sabathia, though. For one thing, they know Wang won’t be fazed by the playoff setting. In two career postseason starts, he is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

“I’m fine, the same,” Wang said. “The same as (the regular) season.”

Wang began this season on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain. He managed to put up nearly identical numbers to last season, though, aside from making four fewer starts. In 2006, Wang went 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA in 34 starts, and was the runner-up in the American League Cy Young Award voting. This year, he was 19-7 with a 3.70 ERA in 30 starts.

It’s a new season now, though.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

PrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email