Kim Klement-US Presswire
The New York Yankees‘ C.C. Sabathia did not look like an ace against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night. In a 5-1 loss, Sabathia gave up five runs in seven innings of work.
The Rays have one of the weakest lineups in the American League. When you are an ace pitcher, you should not be given up five runs against Tampa Bay. It seemed that the Rays were hitting everything that Sabathia threw them.
In 2011, the Yankees gave C.C. a $25 million extension. Contracts these days are very pricey, but $25 million just to pitch once every five days? That’s ridiculous. C.C. did not look like a $25 million pitcher in 2012, going 15-6 with a 3.38 ERA. Those are not the type of numbers that an ace should be producing. He did pitch well for the Yankees in the ALDS, winning the deciding Game 5.
Sabathia’s losses have come against the Boston Red Sox and the Rays. If the Yankees want to win the division this season, they’ll need to beat teams the AL East. The ace of the staff should throw his best stuff against other AL East teams. On the bright side, one of Sabathia’s wins this season came against the Baltimore Orioles.
If Sabathia wants to redeem himself after Monday’s start, he will have a chance to do so on Saturday against the Toronto Blue Jays. There is nothing better than beating a team in your division to get back on the right track, and another weak performance from C.C. could be a cause for concern.
