New York Yankees: CC Sabathia mulled 2020 return before shoulder injury
By Manny Gómez
Retired New York Yankees southpaw CC Sabathia found new life as a relief pitcher. So much so, that he even considered returning in 2020.
Anybody who has had the pleasure of watching retired New York Yankees lefty CC Sabathia knows that he’s an absolute gamer. Just recall a late 2018 affair against the Tampa Bay Rays in which CC protected his catcher, Austin Romine, by throwing at Josh Sucre and then shouting, “that’s for you, b—h,” while pointing at the Rays dugout.
Go further back and you might recall his short stint with the Milwaukee Brewers. It was there where Sabathia solidified himself as an ace by essentially carrying the team into the postseason while pitching regularly on short rest.
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Then, there’s that heartbreaking final pitch of his career in game four of the ALCS in which CC literally gave it all he had and walked away for good with a shoulder injury.
On the latest episode of the R2C2 podcast, however, Sabathia admitted that prior to that shoulder injury, he was actually mulling reneging on his promise to retire after the 2019 season. According to CC, that’s because he felt good as a reliever and felt he could “piggyback” on a possible World Series run next season.
He even went as far as to say, “next summer, I would’ve been coming back for sure.”
Unfortunately for CC, that devastating shoulder injury, which he says included a tear of his rotator cuff, labrum, and bicep among other things was a sign that it is truly over. He even added that he will require surgery in order to be able to toss a football around with his kids and toss BP.
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though the sample size is just too small, CC Sabathia demonstrated that he could handle being a reliever. In three appearances, he allowed no runs, striking out two in 2-innings of work.