New York Yankees CC Sabathia Could Be Crucial in Playoff Push

CC Sabathia (Photo by Jared Wickerham)

On Tuesday night in the Bronx, New York Yankee starter CC Sabathia held the Minnesota Twins hitless through four innings, until giving up a run on a Kurt Suzuki double. Sabathia would finish the start giving up four runs over 6 2/3 innings.

Sabathia showed an increase in velocity for the third straight start, throwing as hard as 94 miles per hour. In Sabathia’s last three starts he has shown great promise going six plus innings in each of them and his earned run average in the month of August is 2.25 through 12 innings.

The Yankees need their big lefty to be in the mix as the playoff race heats up. It wouldn’t be right to say that without Sabathia being effective the Yankees will be out of the playoff race, but a strong Sabathia will definitely improve their chances of making a run in October.

Sabathia has been up and down all season for the Yankees, but it looks like he is hitting his stride just in time. Two starts ago Sabathia pitched against the rival Boston Red Sox. He went six innings allowing only three hits and one run, but there was much more than that. Sabathia got Red Sox slugger David Ortiz to swing through a 94 mile per hour fastball and what followed was a fist pumping his way to the dugout.

The emotion that Sabathia showed was not the first time he has done such a thing, but in a year of struggles for the lefty a simple gesture showed that he was still emotionally in the game and wants to be competitive.

Sabathia is confident in his stuff again and has begun to show signs of the old CC, the one that won a Cy Young award.

Either way, with big games looming on the schedule, CC Sabathia will be important to Yankees down the stretch and into October.