Doug Fister vs. the Yankees – A Key to the Series

Due to Friday’s rainout, Doug Fister will take the mound as game one resumes Saturday night.  This also means, Fister will be the guy to take the ball in a potential game five, thus, the 6’ 8’’ right-hander will become a huge factor in who wins this series.

Luckily for the Tigers, Doug Fister has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball down the stretch.  In his last eight starts, the Tiger’s midseason acquisition has gone 7-0 with a 0.65 ERA.  Even more impressive are his 52 strikeouts in 55.2 innings with only four walks.

Fister has pitched one outing this year against the Yankees.  He went seven strong innings allowing three runs, but failed to notch the win thanks in part to Seattle’s awesome offense and a solid outing from C.C. Sabathia.

An outing at Yankee Stadium in which a pitcher gives up three runs in seven innings is often viewed a great effort.  But in this case, Fister pitched well enough to have possibly gotten different results.  Better results to be exact.

In the first three innings of this game, he allowed a couple singles, but struck out three Yankees and induced multiple weakly hit groundballs.  After retiring Derek Jeter on a groundball to start the fourth, Granderson took Fister deep for a solo shot.  Fister had gotten Granderson to a 2-2 count, but on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, the Yankee center-fielder reached out for a fastball outside the strike zone, and sliced it down the line in left for a home run.  I would attest the homerun was about 50% skill, and 50% total luck.  You rarely see Granderson hit homers to left, and he flailed at the pitch.

The Yankees added two runs in the next inning with a combination of solid singles, weakly hit balls that just barely found holes, and a groundball in the infield.  After that, the Yankees bats went pretty quietly in the sixth and seventh.

I’m gonna stick my chest out a bit on this one and say to Yankee fans – Extra Doug Fister is not a good thing.  You may be fired up for less Verlander, but Fister has actually been considerably better the last month and half.

Verlander a couple days ago actually compared Fister to Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels.  While that comparison is borderline ludicrous, I see his point.  Fister’s control and his pitching ability help him to go a long way, despite his lack of power type stuff.

My primary concern for Fister tonight maybe the weather.  Since he is a junk-baller, him having control over his pitches is a big deal, and there’s a chance his slow stuff will take a hit since the cold weather might make it hard to get a good grip on the baseball.

Hopefully the fact that his July start is the only time the Yankees have seen Fister will hurt New York as it might of hurt Texas with Matt Moore.  But one thing is for certain – Doug Fister will not be intimidated by Yankee Stadium, and he definitely won’t be intimidated by the Yankees.