The Enigma of C.C. Sabathia

By Jeremiah Sullivan

So just what is going on with the former Cleveland ace turned Brew-Crew phenomenon?

The power-pitching southpaw form Vallejo, CA got shipped to the Milwaukee Brewers in a pre-deadline deal for prospect Matt LaPorta and two others.

Just in case anyone was wondering, LaPorta is in his second year as a Minor Leaguer and boasts a .284 career average with 33 bombs and 104 RBI. He’s sure to make the Show eventually, and will offer Cleveland a great glove (career .987 fielding %) and versatility. In the Minors, LaPorta has played left, right, first and DH.

But back to C.C. Since joining the Brewers in beer town, Sabathia has gone 7-0 with a miniscule 1.55 ERA while striking out 60 in 64 innings pitched. On top of that, the lefty has tossed four complete games and two shutouts, giving up only 13 runs overall.

And this guy never even played in the National League. Ever.

So that begs me to ask the question; what did happen to the former Indian? Dominant last year alongside fellow hurler Fausto Carmona, he helped pitch his team to within a game of the World Series. However, Sabathia was 6-8 with a 3.83 ERA in 18 games for Cleveland prior to the deal this year. To make matters worse, C.C. kicked of ’08 with a puzzling 3-6 mark.

This is last year’s AL CY Young Award winner we’re talking about.

Oh yeah, and don’t forget Sabathia’s teammate Cliff Lee, who was sent to the minors to work on his mechanics and was left off last year’s postseason roster, started the last All-Star game ever at Yankee Stadium and is the leading candidate for this year’s
AL CY Young nod.

Although in his first start with Milwaukee he struggled with command of his pitches, C.C. battled through six-innings of work to pick up the W. In his most recent start, (8/14) the southpaw was dominant in helping Milwaukee secure their eighth straight win.

So was it the change in scenery? Perhaps maybe the switch from a clubhouse with a ‘we’ll get ‘em next year’ mentality to one in the middle of a division race did the trick?

Or maybe, just maybe, the odd food-related relationship between Fielder and C.C. was what got the ball rolling.

Who knows.

The point being made is that with the addition of C.C Sabathia to the Brewers’ rotation, the club has a legitimate 1-2 punch at the top for the first time in years. If they can retain that look next year, really depends on how far this playoff push will take them.

Currently behind the Cubs by 4.5 games in their division, and leading the NL Wild Card by three games over St. Louis, the Brew Crew can see the October light at the end of a 162-game tunnel.

Sabathia will drive the bus no doubt.

Here’ the real catch. C.C. Sabathia could become the first player to ever win the C.Y. Young Award in two different leagues in back-to-back years. Fact is fact; the only guy Sabathia would really be competing against is Brandon Webb of Arizona. Fans may argue Aaron Cook out of Colorado as another prime candidate.

Face it, in the NL this season Volquez has hit a plateau, Dempster doesn’t have a shot unless the Cubbies make the postseason, Haren is stuck behind Webb, and Lincecum is young and still learning on a bad team who can’t secure the wins.

Overall, Webb leads the majors in wins. Against the rest of the NL, he’s fourth in ERA, third in innings pitched and ninth in strikeouts. Cook is currently the NL’s second-best in wins, 19th in ERA, second in innings pitched and doesn’t even rank in the top 50 for strikeouts.

Sabathia is the current MLB king in strikeouts with 183. Overall, he is 13-8 with a 3.04 ERA in 186.3 innings pitched. That ERA would rank ninth in the NL behind teammate Ben Sheets and his amount of innings pitched blows both Webb and Cook away.

With the games remaining on the schedule, it is feasible to assume C.C. would make roughly 10 more starts. Out of those, if he were to win six of them, it would put his record at 19-12 on the year…one victory shy of a 20-win year.

As for Sabathia’s running mates; The D-Backs have faltered with offensive production all year and the Rockies are not going anywhere fast.

What’s more impressive than starting off your season horrendously and then dominating in a whole other league and falling one shy of 20 wins?

Answer: Not much




The opinions mentioned here are solely those of the author of this piece and are not shared by other posters on this site or the site creator