New York Yankees: What is Sabathia’s role come playoff time?
By Sean Basile
The MLB Postseason is just around the corner and the New York Yankees have a decision to make on a player that has given them everything he’s had for years.
It’s no secret that the great CC Sabathia hasn’t had the best swan song year for the New York Yankees posting a 5-8 record with a 4.95 ERA in 22 starts. But with injuries to the bullpen and a spot opening up on the impending playoff roster, the big lefty may very well find himself in a position to win himself a World Series as he walks out the door.
The Yankees are set for the postseason as winners of the AL East, only waiting on whether or not they’ll clinch home-field advantage from Houston or not. With that sealed playoff spot comes the responsibility to put together the best playoff roster they can in order to finally bring home a championship with this great young core they’ve had for some time now.
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CC hasn’t pitched his way onto the playoff roster this year with the numbers specified above, but where he could benefit is in the short handedness of the bullpen with injuries to Dellin Betances, David Hale, and Jonathan Holder, as well as the recent suspension of Domingo German for the rest of the season (regular and post).
As of now, the Yankees have three starters that have been in that same role all year in JA Happ, James Paxton, and Masahiro Tanaka. Tanaka has usually proven himself to be a solid playoff pitcher and Paxton has been on an absolute tear post-All-Star-Break as a winner of 10-straight decisions since August 2nd.
Those third and fourth spots, however, may be a cause for concern with Happ not pitching all that well this year in any capacity and Luis Severino still on the injury comeback. Bottom line is, the foursome of Tanaka/Paxton/Happ/Severino is probably the Yankees’ rotation come postseason, but those last two spots could be a little shaky and require ample bullpen work behind them.
That’s where a seasoned veteran like CC Sabathia comes in.
It’s understandable, he’s not been all that great this year. He doesn’t have much in the tank either. But with the spot open for him to take in the bullpen, and with this being his last hurrah, he could actually wind up playing a heavy role if the Yanks go on a deep run or win the World Series.
He’s only had one relief appearance this year which came just this past Tuesday against the Rays where he went a full inning and struck out two. With only one series left, there isn’t much time to get him acclimated to the role, but the Yanks are still trying to find situations to thrust him into before playoffs come.
CC would most likely benefit from playing a Nestor Cortes-type role where he follows an opener (if the Yankees decide to use one this postseason) or comes in for 2-3 innings in the middle of games.
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CC has been the horse of this New York Yankees team for years. His “stuff” and velocity have faded with time, but he’s still the leader of this ball club. Having him in there with an actual role to play is going to help this Yankees team potentially win a World Series.