It is probable that the four best pitchers in baseball represent the four remaining teams in the playoffs. CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum are the faces of New York, Philadelphia, Texas and San Francisco, respectively, and all four are fronting the charge to the World Series for their clubs. It’s impossible to answer which ace trumps which ace, as any game featuring any two of these stars very well may end up with a 1-0 score or left to the bullpens to decide.

Unfortunately, Friday’s ALCS game between New York and Texas won’t feature dueling aces, as Lee will continue to rest after winning Game 5 of the ALDS against Tampa Bay on Tuesday. With that news, few think C.J. Wilson stands a chance at shutting down the Yankees while Sabathia deals on the other end. However, if he does, the Yankees may find themselves in a world of trouble facing Lee in either Game 2 or 3. Lee beat the Yankees twice in the World Series last year; the only pitcher to win at all against the Bombers.

Saturday night could feature one of the best pitchers’ duels of the year with two-time defending Cy Young Award winner Lincecum facing off against Halladay, who hasn’t pitched since throwing his no hitter in Game 1 against Cincinnati. These guys are two of the best currently going. The amount of rest both pitchers have had since their last starts won’t affect them one bit. All it means is that both pitchers will be fresh and more than ready to sparkle in both of their first championship series games.

Only two of these four pitchers have pitched in the postseason before. Only one has won the World Series, but the other three are a combined 8-0 (thanks to Lee’s six wins). Despite the fact that these are the four best pitchers in baseball, only Sabathia has had any real sort of postseason experience, and he only has a 6-4 lifetime postseason record with a 4.41 ERA. Despite a limited role overall, whichever of these teams advance to the World Series, you can be sure that these aces will have had a major impact on their getting there.