볼티모어 오리올스 담당 기자로 활동중인 24년 경력의 베테랑 언론인. 김현수 계약 소식을 최초 보도했고, 작년에 이어 올해도 네이버 스포츠를 통해 한국 독자들을 만난다.
[댄 코놀리] 사바시아의 시간은 거꾸로 간다
17일, ALCS 3차전에서 휴스턴을 상대로 6이닝 무실점 5K를 기록한 사바시아. 포스트시즌 통산 10승째의 순간이었다. (사진 = Gettyimages Korea) |
양키스의 형님과 아우. 사바시아가 애런 저지 디비전시리즈 진출 파티를 즐기고 있다. (사진 = Gettyimages Korea) |
2004년, 어머니와 단란한 시간을 보내는 사바시아. (사진 = Gettyimages Korea) |
Pitching is the difference-maker in baseball. There are some exceptions – the Houston Astros could make the World Series with a staff ERA that was mediocre during the regular season and the postseason so far. But, for the most part, if you pitch well you have a shot at getting to the playoffs. The top seven teams in ERA in 2017 all made the playoffs. The only exceptions were the Astros (11th of 30 in ERA), the Colorado Rockies (17th, partially because of playing half their games at Coors Field) and the 19th ranked Minnesota Twins, who earned an AL Wild Card on the merit of not being a sub-.500 team. None of the clubs ranked in the bottom third in the majors in cumulative ERA made the playoffs. So, when teams begin to decide what they need to do to improve for 2018, pitching, and, specifically, starting pitching, is going to top most lists. It’ll be a good offseason to be Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish, considered the best two starting pitching free agents on the upcoming market. It’ll also be good to be Alex Cobb, Lance Lynn, Andrew Cashner and other starters who had solid seasons in 2017 and have upped their stocks. But when I look at the free agent list, perhaps the starting pitcher that is the most intriguing to me is one that doesn’t fit the mold. He’s old, he’s out-of-shape, he has health issues, he doesn’t throw hard anymore. He’s probably not going to get a multi-year deal; two years at most. Yet CC Sabathia could be that pitching difference-maker for a club that has a legitimate shot at the playoffs. The 37-year-old New York Yankee lefty will do his part during a season, assuming his balky knees don’t buckle to the pressure of his 300-plus-pound frame. But it’s what he can do when the pressure is on – down the stretch and into the postseason – that help can propel a club. “I don't ever worry about the situation affecting CC. I never have,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “Whatever the game was, he's a big game pitcher. It's not going to be a situation that keeps him from pitching well.” Sabathia, a pending free agent, has thrown 15 2/3 innings this postseason and has allowed four earned runs – a 2.30 ERA. That includes six shutout innings Monday night that helped the Yankees beat the Astros, 8-1, and close to 2-1 in the best-of-seven ALCS. It was Sabathia’s 22nd playoff game (he is 10-5 with a 4.24 ERA in his postseason career) and the first time he’s had a scoreless outing. “It's weird. Me being 37, smoke and mirrors, getting a shutout,” Sabathia said. “Just keep riding it, trying to throw strikes and being aggressive.” To be fair, this isn’t the same fire-balling Sabathia that stormed onto the scene as a 20-year-old with the Cleveland Indians in 2001, winning 17 games and finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting to future Hall-of-Famer Ichiro Suzuki. This isn’t the same Sabathia who, in 2007, won the AL Cy Young Award, or the one that made his sixth and final All-Star game in 2012 and single-handedly beat the Baltimore Orioles in the 2012 ALDS only to get knocked around in his one start against the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 ALCS. Sabathia hasn’t pitched in the playoffs since then – he missed the Yankees’ 2015 postseason berth because he was battling alcoholism and left his club at season’s end. But what he has done this postseason is an extension of what he did when he came back from a knee injury this August. In seven of his final eight starts of the regular season, Sabathia allowed three runs or fewer. He won his final six decisions. And, suddenly, a veteran that looked old and broken down now has become an intriguing free-agent option for teams that feel like they are one starting pitcher away from really competing. He could be exceptionally coveted because Sabathia, at his age and with his knee history, won’t be able to command a lengthy contract. Probably just one year – with maybe an option for a second year. I guess a team could try and woo him with a second, guaranteed year. The Orioles, for one, seem like a good fit, but, again, there’s no bad fit for an effective starting pitcher. Yet all of this could be moot. Three months ago, it seemed possible that Sabathia’s Yankees days would be over. He has spent nine of his 17 seasons in the Bronx, picking up 120 of his 237 victories in pinstripes. But the way he has pitched recently, the Yankees would be foolish to let him walk. He’s had to reinvent himself as a pitcher instead of a thrower now that his velocity has dipped considerably. And he’s no longer a guy that can go seven innings deep with regularity. He’s probably a No. 3 or a No.4 at that point in his career. Yet, he’s also the guy the Yankees turned to in a do-or-die Game 5 of the ALDS, and he pitched well against the Cleveland Indians. Given his personal struggles, and his triumphs as a recovering alcoholic, there are plenty of things he can teach the younger Yankees. And he embraces that role, unlike some veterans. A native Californian, Sabathia and his family have settled into New Jersey and seem content living there. So, it will be no surprise if Sabathia and Yankees announce an extension after the postseason. The surprise is that the lumbering lefty has enough remaining in that golden arm to make the Yankees offer a legitimate deal before Sabathia dives fully into the free-agent pool.
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