The New York Yankees are officially moving CC Sabathia to the bullpen after his emotional start on Wednesday.
CC Sabathia has likely made his last start for the New York Yankees. According to Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, manager Aaron Boone says Sabathia will be a reliever for the rest of the regular season.
Sabathia has had an up-and-down year in his final MLB season. The left-hander is posting a 4.99 ERA with a 1.42 WHIP this season. He’s pitched 106.1 innings in 22 total starts. Lingering knee issues have bothered Sabathia all year.
The 39-year-old has never made a relief appearance in 560 career games. It’s still unclear how Boone plans to structure his pitching staff in the postseason.
James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, and Luis Severino are all ahead of Sabathia on the depth chart. Additionally, J.A. Happ’s recent resurgence could be coming at the perfect time for the Yankees.
With all that said, the Yankees are going to use their pitching staff in unconventional ways this postseason. The strength of the staff lies in the bullpen and Boone won’t hesitate to call on his relievers.
Sabathia’s first season with the Yankees ended with a World Series. Bookending his Yankees’ career with another World Series would be the fairytale ending that most players can only dream of experiencing.
Although the Yankees clinched the American League East crown on Thursday, they are still playing for home-field advantage throughout the postseason. Entering Friday’s games, the Yankees trail the Houston Astros by one game in the loss column.
Happ will take the mound on Friday against Jacob Waguespack and the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium (7:05 p.m. ET).
