CC Sabathia made his 300th career start with the New York Yankees on Monday against the Minnesota Twins, but it’s one he’d like to forget.
The long-time New York Yankees starter reached another milestone with his start against the Minnesota Twins Monday night. CC Sabathia became the seventh pitcher in Yankees history to make 300 career starts.
Against MIN tonight, CC Sabathia will be the 7th in @Yankees history to make 300+ career starts. Others: Whitey Ford (438), Andy Pettitte (438), Red Ruffing (391), Mel Stottlemyre (356), Ron Guidry (323), Lefty Gomez (319)
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) July 22, 2019
However, Sabathia’s milestone night was spoiled by one of the best offenses in the league. The Twins chased Sabathia from the game after he surrendered seven runs on six hits along with four home runs.
This was certainly Sabathia’s worst-start of the season. Sabathia went a season-worst four innings and also gave up a season-high seven runs in this start. This historic night will certainly be overshadowed by this poor performance by Sabathia.
The lefty also gave up a season-high four home runs in his start against the Twins. Home runs are something that he’s not only struggled with this season but for the majority of his career with the Yankees as well.
The 39-year-old is currently tied for fifth in the league for the most home runs surrendered this season. Sabathia is also on pace to own the record for the most home runs surrendered all-time in Yankees history.
Sabathia has currently given up 227 total home runs during his eleven seasons with the Yankees. Which ranks him third all-time among Yankees pitchers. That also puts the future Hall-of-Famer just ten home runs back from allowing the most in Yankees history.
Currently, Whitey Ford (228) and Andy Pettitte (236) are ahead of Sabathia. There’s also a very good chance that Sabathia will pass Ford for No. 2 on that list in his very next start. Sabathia has given up at least one home run in each of his last three starts.
Which also makes it very possible for Sabathia to own the all-time record before he retires at the end of the season. Sabathia’s 300th start has also placed him even closer to making even more history with the Yankees. That start now puts him exactly 19 starts away from tying Lefty Gomez for the sixth-most starts by a pitcher in Yankees history.
However, it’s unlikely that Sabathia will be able to pass Gomez’s record since the season is already over halfway completed. If healthy, Sabathia will likely receive about 10 starts the rest of the season. But, Sabathia is already considered to be among the top pitchers in Yankees history. So, the six-time All-Star doesn’t have much left to prove.
Sabathia currently ranks 12th in WAR among pitchers in Yankees history. He also ranks 10th in wins, fourth in strikeouts and 11th in innings pitched. So, there’s no question about how much Sabathia means to the Yankees, but his role with the team will likely change this fall.
This postseason will likely be a lot different for Sabathia this year, opposed to the other six he has under his belt. While he’s made appearances in six playoff runs with the Yankees in his career, he’ll likely be kept off the playoff roster this year.
In the final season of his career, Sabathia just isn’t capable of performing against the elite performers in the game anymore. Which is why the Yankees will likely be forced to make the tough decision of leaving Sabathia off of their playoff roster this fall.
During the postseason, teams usually only need four starting pitchers instead of the usual five. Even if the Yankees don’t acquire a starting pitcher at the trade deadline, there still won’t be a spot for Sabathia on the roster. Luis Severino will reportedly be fully-recovered in time for the playoffs, making Sabathia the likely odd man out.
However, being left off the playoff roster doesn’t change what Sabathia has done for the Yankees in his career. His decline over the last few seasons shouldn’t change that either. When Sabathia retires at the end of the season, he’ll be remembered as one of the greatest-pitchers to ever play for the Yankees.
Which is exactly why it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Yankees retire No. 52 at some point next season. Sabathia will also likely be wearing a Yankees hat whenever he’s inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he further cemented that by making his 300th start in pinstripes.
