NewsCC's regular-season work could net Cy
Playoff gems won't factor into race with Greinke and Co.
By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com
11/16/09 3:09 PM EST
NEW YORK -- Entering his final start of the regular season, CC Sabathia, winner of 19 games up to that point, was asked what the first 20-win season of his career would mean.
"It's the same thing as the Cy Young -- you don't think about that type of stuff," Sabathia said, before allowing nine runs to the Rays to fall well short of his 20th victory. "I never did coming up. I just wanted to come out and make it to the big leagues and be successful. I never thought about winning a Cy Young or winning 20 games. I always just wanted to win a championship."
Now, he has. And the other accolades await.
Sabathia is among the favorites to take home this year's American League Cy Young Award, to be given out Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The left-hander previously won the award with the Indians in 2007, finishing that season with a 19-7 record, a 3.21 ERA and 209 strikeouts.
This year, he wrapped up his first campaign in pinstripes with some similar numbers, including a 19-8 record, a 3.37 ERA and 197 strikeouts.
But he also must face some stiff competition.
Zack Greinke, the 26-year-old Kansas City ace, led the AL by a wide margin with a 2.16 ERA, also finishing second in strikeouts with 242. The only blemish on Greinke's resume was one all but out of his control: pitching for the last-place Royals, the right-hander finished just 16-8.
Other contenders for the AL Cy Young Award include Felix Hernandez of the Mariners and Justin Verlander of the Tigers -- though Sabathia's most formidable competition would appear to be Greinke.
Hurting Sabathia's chances is the fact that the postseason, in which Sabathia did some of his best work, does not factor into BBWAA awards. So, as impressive as it was, Sabathia's 3-1 playoff record and 1.98 postseason ERA will have no bearing on the voting, nor will the fact that he compiled those numbers twice pitching on short rest in Joe Girardi's three-man playoff rotation.
Instead, Sabathia will have to compete based on the merits of his regular season. He must hope that voters were as impressed by them as the Yankees were.
In his first season after signing a seven-year, $161 contract with the Bombers, Sabathia proved to be exactly the type of ace that the team has lacked for much of this decade. The undisputed leader of the staff, Sabathia grew stronger as the year went on, going 9-0 with a 2.04 ERA in August and September.
"He's been able to really make it simple," catcher Jorge Posada said just before the World Series. "Everybody that has come in here being a No. 1 has struggled somewhat during the year, and he hasn't. That tells you how his mind-set is and how strong he is and how good he is. And he's getting better."
In Sabathia's 2007 Cy Young Award-winning season, he bested Josh Beckett of the Red Sox and John Lackey of the Angels to take the award. Yet as Posada noted, much of his best work has come since.
In 2008, after a midseason trade from the Indians to the Brewers, Sabathia went 9-0 in his first 11 starts for his new team, three times pitching on short rest in September to propel the Brewers into the playoffs.
Though Sabathia struggled in his lone postseason start that year, his efforts were enough to land a lucrative free-agent contract from the Yankees in December. And then the lefty went out and repeated his successes, catching fire down the stretch to lead the Yankees to home-field advantage in the playoffs.
This time, though, Sabathia was rested. Rather than consistently starting on short rest down the stretch, Sabathia pitched most of his September games on extra rest. And it seemed to help come playoff time, when the Yankees finally upped Sabathia's workload -- and the lefty responded.
"It's really fun to watch in between starts, the way he really works," Posada said. "It's been a great joy to watch."
Those in Kansas City may argue otherwise. But Sabathia's body of work during the regular season, if nothing else, was enough to merit serious consideration for baseball's most prestigious pitching award.
Anthony DiComo is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
