It’s been an up and down season so far in the Bronx.
The New York Yankees got off to a rough start, but have been playing better baseball of late. Unfortunately, the team continues to hover around the .500 mark, and the playoffs are continuing to look like a pipe dream.
While many players, such as Alex Rodriguez, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brett Gardner, have been underperforming, there have been a few bright spots to keep fans hopeful. The brightest spot has easily been the career renaissance of CC Sabathia.
CC Sabathia is Having a Career Renaissance
Sabathia had been one of the most dominant pitchers in all of baseball for a number of years. Unfortunately, he finally began to slow down 2013. The wear and tear was not a surprise, given Sabathia’s lengthy career to that point. What was troublesome was the amount of money the Yankees owed the big lefty.
New York was paying $23 million per season for what amounted to an innings eater. Sabathia could still be counted on to work deep into games and conserve the bullpen, but pitching to a ghastly 4.93 ERA from 2013-2015 was a tough pill to swallow.
It appeared that things were turning around for Sabathia towards the tail end of the 2015 season, however. He had begun wearing a knee brace and had turned in a few good-to-strong performances during the Yankees’ playoff push.
However, right before the playoffs were to begin, Sabathia announced he was battling an alcohol addiction and was going to enter rehab. This came as a shock to friends, fans, and teammates, but Sabathia would later reveal he has been batting alcoholism since 2012.
As Spring Training approached, it was announced that a healthy CC Sabathia would be competing with Ivan Nova for the last spot in the rotation. Although he had a mediocre spring, Sabathia pitched well enough to win the fifth spot.
The concerns about Sabathia entering the season were obvious. Most pundits could see it was clear that his days as a staff ace were behind him. The real question was, would the Yankees get any value for the $25 million Sabathia was owed in 2016?
CC Sabathia Proves the Doubters Wrong
When the calendar flipped to May, Sabathia was sporting an ugly 5.07 ERA. If not for an injury to Luis Severino, he may have found his way out of the rotation. It seemed the end was finally near for Sabathia; but then the light switch went on.
Sabathia has been dominant for the last two months, pitching to an unbelievable 0.71 ERA. Additionally, he’s lowered his overall ERA for the season to a spiffy 2.28. In fact, since May 1, Sabathia has the best ERA of any starter in baseball, including Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner.
Yes, he’s been that good.
Sabathia doesn’t have the velocity he used to, but instead is throwing more cutters and sinkers to produce weaker contact, and that strategy has proven to be very effective.
It’s highly unlikely that Sabathia will be able to sustain the pace he’s currently on. However, for a guy that’s had to overcome adversity on and, more importantly, off the field these last few years, it’s great to see him re-inventing himself in the late stages of his career.
The Yankees are probably doomed to hover around .500 for the rest of the year. Fans should take heart that the big lefty is pitching like a stud again, and should, against all odds, be on the AL All-Star team this season.
Looks like CC got his groove back.
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