TAMPA — Nine and two-thirds inning of game work for CC Sabathia this spring, the last five of those coming Saturday at the Yankees’ minor league complex for Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against the Pirates’ affiliate Indianapolis. Five home runs allowed.
A reporter asked the veteran lefty how much stock anyone should put in the results we’ve seen so far.
“I don’t give a [expletive] what stock they put in it,” Sabathia said, as the Yankees were losing a 10-2 game to the Orioles at Steinbrenner Field. “It is what it is. I’ve had spring trainings where I’ve given up a lot of runs and went out and had a good season. I’ve had spring trainings like last year where I didn’t give up [any] runs and I gave up [six] in the first game [April 1 at Houston]. So you all can put stock in whatever you want. I’m not really worried about it.”
So this was new: a defiant Sabathia. We haven’t seen much of this before. Nor had we heard him drop an F-bomb in a formal interview.
For sure, it reflects the changing, challenging times for the man who will be sitting out his first Opening Day since 2005.
“I’m excited to get a chance to enjoy Opening Day,” said Sabathia, who will start the Yankees’ third game April 9 against Toronto, with Masahiro Tanaka getting the April 6 premiere gig. “It should be fun.”
It has been quite a while since Sabathia looked like he was having fun on the mound, and Saturday sure as heck didn’t start that way. Not when Pittsburgh prospect Alen Hanson pummeled Sabathia’s very first pitch well over the high fence in left field, then laughed and collected congratulations from his teammates.
“I think there should be a rule against swinging at the first pitch of the game,” Sabathia said, smiling. “That’s my take on it. That’s what I was thinking, anyway.”
He struck out seven and walked two of his young opponents, with five of the whiffs coming on called third strikes. His fastball ranged between 88 and 91 mph, and Sabathia expressed satisfaction with his changeup, although it was a changeup that Elias Diaz smoked for a three-run, fourth-inning homer, also to left field.
Manager Joe Girardi, who sent his pitching coach Larry Rothschild and bullpen coach Gary Tuck across the street with Sabathia while he managed against Buck Showalter, said, “I didn’t see the home runs today. I don’t know how much the wind was a factor.’’ The answer to Girardi’s query is zero percent.
Brian McCann, who caught Sabathia in the game, said of his battery mate: “He’s getting stronger, I feel like. Later in the game. The fifth inning was the same as the first, I felt like today.”
“I was able to go out there five times and pitch five innings and feel great,” Sabathia said. “I haven’t had any problems. I’m looking forward to getting to the season and trying to help this team.”
What little the Yankees have accomplished the prior two seasons, they did with virtually no help from Sabathia, who iced his surgically repaired right knee Saturday during his conversation with us. The 34-year-old knows that questions loom about the physical condition not only of him, but also about those of his rotation mates Tanaka (right elbow) and Michael Pineda (right shoulder).
“I think we have something to prove in staying healthy,” Sabathia said. “On the mound, I think you can see what the guys can do if we’re out there. But we’ve got to prove we can stay out there.”
Actually, for Sabathia, with two straight poor seasons on his record, he has to prove both his health and his effectiveness. This spring, during which the Yankees have rolled him out at a deliberate pace, has offered only tiny portions of hope.
“Adrenaline plays a huge factor in results,” McCann said. “You run out of the bullpen with 50,000 people in the stands, if you’re throwing 94, you’re going to throw 97, 98. Adrenaline plays a huge factor in both sides, hitting and pitching. When the lights turn on, it’s a whole ’nother ballgame.”
Well, Sabathia’s adrenaline got flowing pretty good Saturday with the “stock” question. If that defiance can make him a better pitcher, then the Yankees gladly will accept this new model.