New York Yankees: Where Does CC Sabathia Rank Among Pitchers in 2016?
By Nick Ziegler
Bleacher Report has recently ranked the top 80 starting pitchers in baseball. Where does New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia rank?
It has been a surprisingly good for New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia. It has certainly been a bounce back season for Sabathia, as he has recovered from an alcohol addiction. Sabathia left the team at the end of last season to work on his issues in rehab, and the results have been seen on the field as well.
This season, Sabathia has totaled an 8-12 record and 4.01 ERA. After three poor seasons in a row for Sabathia, he has been very effectively this season. While the Yankees’ rotation has struggled for the most part this season, Sabathia has joined Masahiro Tanaka as one of the steadiest pitchers.
On Bleacher Report’s list, Sabathia was ranked as the 49th best starting pitcher this season. The ranking puts Sabathia right between Marco Estrada and Zach Davies. Here is the reasoning behind the decision to rank Sabathia 49th.
"CC Sabathia showed up to 2016 healthy and with a new pitch selection. He’s ditched his four-seamer and added a cutter, ensuring everything he throws moves. This has made it easier for him to miss barrels, as his average of 85.4 mph puts him among baseball’s exit-velocity leaders. But with more movement comes less control. And with his velocity still long gone, missing bats remains a struggle."
Even though the Yankees won’t be making the playoffs this season, the bounce back from Sabathia has been a nice thing to see. Furthermore, if it wasn’t for Sabathia, the Yankees’ rotation would have been really poor this season.
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While his future with the team is a bit uncertain, Sabathia has certainly proved that he can still be an effective starter in the majors.