CC Sabathia encouraged by first start
New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia throws during the first inning of a spring training game against the Miami Marlins, Tuesday, March 8, 2016, in Jupiter, Fla. Credit: AP / Jeff Roberson
JUPITER, Fla. — CC Sabathia has said for a long time that results in spring training, particularly the early games, don’t matter to him. He’s more concerned with how pitches feel coming out of his hand and, most significantly as he’s gotten older, how his body feels.
Just about everything, including results, were positive Tuesday afternoon. In his debut, Sabathia threw two scoreless innings in a 1-0 loss to the Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium.
“I felt good just to be back out there,” said Sabathia, who entered a 30-day alcohol rehabilitation facility last October. “It’s fun to be competing again. It went well.”
He did not allow a hit and walked one. With his velocity topping out at 89 mph, Sabathia struck out two, getting Christian Yelich with a slider and Martin Prado with a cutter, a pitch Andy Pettitte helped him refine.
The 35-year-old lefthander struggled for 2½ seasons before rebounding down the stretch last year, when a lightweight brace for his troublesome right knee seemed to solve a longstanding issue. Sabathia said he felt “nothing at all” in the knee Tuesday.
“No problems landing, and I think that’s why I’m a little ahead of where I was last year in spring training,” he said. “Just because I feel a lot better and my mechanics are where they should be right now.”
Sabathia, with no bullpen experience in his 15-year career, is all but assured a rotation spot when camp breaks, assuming he is healthy. If he can even approach what he did when he was the Yankees’ ace, Joe Girardi said, “It would be huge.”
After compiling a 15-6 record and a 3.38 ERA in 2012, Sabathia went 14-13, 4.78 in 2013, 3-4, 5.28 (in eight starts) in 2014 and 6-10, 4.73 last year. His right knee gave him difficulty in each of those seasons, but after donning the new brace early last September, he went 2-1 with a 2.17 ERA in his final five starts.
Does Girardi believe the Yankees still could see the pre-2013 version of Sabathia, diminished velocity and all?
“I do, because I think he’s healthier,” Girardi said. “I would ask, ‘How’s your knee? How’s your knee?’ and you’d hold your breath some of the times. He had to have it drained, it didn’t make him miss a start, but if that’s happening, you know it’s sore.”
In his prime, Sabathia consistently hit the mid-90s with his fastball. Girardi said he thinks he can win by throwing in the 80s. “He’s not a power guy anymore,” Girardi said. “He understands that, but I think his knee at times kept him from doing what he wanted to do.”
Some opposing teams’ scouts aren’t as sure, noting a high-80s, sometimes flat fastball contributed to Sabathia’s allowing a career-high 28 homers in 2013 and again last year.
“As long as he doesn’t throw his fastball, he can be a touch-and-feel, nibble, nibble, cutter, curveball, change, throw the whole kitchen sink at you, average lefthanded starter,” one scout said. “If he throws that four-seamer, it could unravel quickly.”
Sabathia is not looking too far ahead. So far, it is one two-inning outing down and five to go to get ready for the season.
“It’s about building on that,” he said, “and keeping it going.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
More Yankees headlines
