Sabathia, Yankees Win by Setting Tempo

In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.

Few pitchers in baseball proudly carry the title of ace, but CC Sabathia is one of them. If there was any doubt about that fact, it was all put to rest on Friday night against the Angels. Between his absolute mastery of the Los Angeles lineup and the pace of the game that New York set in the early innings, this was the formula every team wants to avoid in order to hang with the Yankees.

With the Angels unable to get runners on base to start the engines of their running game and the Yankees doing what they do best by taking pitches, this was a Yankee-paced game. If the Yankees are allowed to dictate tempo, they will come out on top more often than not.

While not explosive, what the Yankee lineup was able to do in Game 1 is a blueprint for how you slow down a top-flight pitcher like John Lackey. Take Mark Teixeira's night as an example. While he contributed just one hit, the Yankee first baseman ran up 22 pitches in his five at-bats. It's lengthy at-bats like those that wore down Lackey and had him out of the game before the end of the sixth inning.

The Yankees offense set the methodical pace of the game that allowed the team to play in their comfort zone, but on the mound, keeping the Angels from speeding up that pace, was Sabathia. The Angels aren't overly patient as a whole, but handing out free passes can be deadly as they consistently take advantage of opportunities on the bases.

Pounding the fastball to both corners through eight innings at 93-95 mph, Sabathia was able to tie a difficult lineup in knots. As we've seen, this is a lineup that does not match up as well with the power fastball. A pitcher who looks to get a little too cute with his breaking ball or other secondary pitches will likely be carved to pieces. Rather than fall into that trap, Sabathia stayed aggressive with the fastball and even saved some of his best velocity for his last two innings, still touching 96 mph in his final inning.

Just about the only offense Los Angeles was able to muster off of Sabathia came against his breaking ball. Early on, the big lefty did make some location mistakes with his slider. To his credit, he made adjustments throughout the game and relied primarily on the changeup as his out pitch. While he doesn't have a staggering differential, what CC has on his side is exactly matching spin on the changeup. There is essentially no way for the hitter to read whether they are seeing a fastball or a changeup out of his hand. When he is able to own the inside part of the plate on right-handed hitters, it makes the changeup away close to unhittable.

It's usually pretty clear in the early part of the game when Sabathia is poised for a dominant outing. Friday night was no different.

Here is a good indicator for anyone watching Sabathia starts: If he's getting the fastball to the inside corner on righties, you know he's getting that downward angle through his delivery that can make him so difficult. It also tells us that he's finishing through his delivery well, and therefore able to get that late tailing action on his fastball and changeup.

Spotlight Moment

With Mike Napoli pinch-hitting in the seventh inning with a runner on first base, it felt like the Angels' last chance to do some damage against Sabathia. It turned out that there would be no stopping the big man on this night, but the Napoli at-bat was a prime example of his dominance and how he gets it done.

A good fastball hitter, Napoli went up to the dish sitting dead red on the heater. Instead of getting one, he saw three straight changeups to begin the at-bat. After running the count to 2-1, Sabathia then went up and in for a swinging strike on a 94-mph fastball. The next pitch, a 96-mph fastball was fouled off. And, here is where the brilliance of Sabathia comes into play. His ability to read the bat is one of the biggest parts of his game. Following the foul ball on the good fastball, Napoli then swung and missed on an 87-mph changeup just off the outside corner. Even the most accomplished hitters in baseball are not programmed to honor such an explosive fastball and still be able to react to that good of a changeup.

Quick Hits

• If John Lackey is going to be at his best, his big curveball needs to be tempting enough to coax hitters out of the strike zone. Although the Yankees never hit him with a knockout blow, Lackey struggled to make them leave the zone on the breaking ball. However, his ability to locate the curveball in the strike zone, particularly the backdoor curveball to lefties, is what kept him alive in the game.

• One constant about Vladimir Guerrero remains, even at this stage in his career. If you make a mistake down in the zone, he is not going to miss it. He proved it again on Friday night as he put one of the few good swings of the game on Sabathia. After attacking him mostly up and out of the zone earlier in the game, Sabathia tried a breaking ball toward the back foot that stayed over the middle of the plate. His ability to hit the breaking ball over the years has been what's made him such a superior hitter. But at this point in his career in particular, it seems especially important to stay with the hard stuff up in the zone.

Frankie Piliere spent the last three seasons working as a scout, most recently in the professional scouting department for the Texas Rangers in 2009. He now serves as the National Baseball Analyst here at FanHouse.