Battle of the Pitchers (Otherwise known as Pitcher's Duel)

Earlier today, Alex contrasted the batting orders of the two Big Apple teams.

Now it is time to compare the Yankees pitching staff (yes, they apparently do have one.) and the Mets'.

Rotations

Ace: Pedro Martinez vs. Randy Johnson
Edge to Pedro on this one. He's hopefully still got a few good years in him while Randy had one of his worst years in a while, littered with back and knee ailments. And Kris Benson and Dae-Sung Koo hit long doubles off of him last year-- in the same game.

#2 Starter: Tom Glavine vs. Mike Mussina
Push. I like Glavine to have his best year in New York after last year's strong second half, but Mussina's several years younger than Glavine and has better stuff.

#3 Starter: Steve Trachsel vs. Shawn Chacon
Push. Trachsel's got better career stats but historically he's an average pitcher. When Chacon was rescued from Colorado last year, he dominated with the Yankees. If he can repeat his success, he will outperform Trachsel, who is coming off of a herniated disc last year.

#4 Starter: Victor Zambrano vs. Chien-Ming Wang
Edge to Zambrano. He's got the experience (at sucking) that Wang will need this year to acquire. But really- Zambrano's supposed to be even better this year than he was supposed to be last year and the year before. Wang's got a shoulder problem.

#5 Starter: Aaron Heilman vs. Carl Pavano
Pavano. When healthy, as he proved with the Fish in 2004, he can be dominant. Heilman's numbers as a starter: 5-13 in 25 starts with an ERA of 5.93. Whether or not he wreaks havoc with his arm angle, those numbers are a joke. Pavano's back may hurt, but Heilman's change-up will get old quickly.

Bullpen

Long Man: Yusaku Iriki (入来 祐作)/John Maine/Jose Lima/Alay Soler/Jeremi Gonzalez vs. Jaret Wright
Wright, but that is quite the beast the Mets are developing over there.

LOOGY: Mike Venafro/Matt Perisho/Darren Oliver/Pedro Feliciano/Royce Ring/Dae-Sung Koo vs. Mike Myers
Do I really need to evaluate this one?

Set-up Men:
Duaner Sanchez/Chad Bradford/Jorge Julio/Bartolome Fortunato/Juan Padilla/Heath Bell/Steve Schmoll
vs.
Kyle Farnsworth/Tanyon Sturtze/Octavio Dotel/Ron Villone/Aaron Small
Mets. Sanchez and Julio are fireballing righties, both of whom have been effective set-up men in their careers. Kyle Farnsworth, up until last year, was a volatile crazy man (which occasionally is synonomous with set-up man) and he is unlikely to handle the New York Yankee crowd well. Villone was awful after moving to Florida last year and Small is a journeyman who is going to have a tough time being 10-0 again. Juan Padilla is a similar case, but with those glasses, who knows.

Closers:
Billy Wagner vs. Mariano Rivera
Rivera. This might wind up being a push if Rivera finally starts to fade, but the man is absolutely unhittable. Wagner isn't hittable either, but all he's got on Rivera is velocity.

Next up in the Battle of the Boroughs:
Battle of the Benches. Tike Redman, Endy Chavez, Miguel Cairo and Kelly Stinnett! What fun!