New York Yankees: C.C. Sabathia’s Poor Opening Day Outing Is Not A Cause For Concern

The New York Yankees‘ No. 1 pitcher C.C. Sabathia faced scrutiny when he arrived to Spring Training looking the thinnest he has in his career. Questions about how his new frame would affect his performance remain unanswered despite the lefty giving up six runs on Tuesday night to the Houston Astros.

Sabathia stumbled out of the gate, giving up four runs in the bottom of the first which featured a bomb over the left field wall from Jesus Guzman, the Astros’ first baseman and No. 5 hitter. Hoping to shake off the first-day jitters in the second inning, Sabathia surrendered two more runs while L.J Hoes, the No. 8 hitter, crushed another home run to left.

From then on, Sabathia settled down and only gave up two hits over the next four innings and struck out six total. It is uncomforting for fans when an Opening Day starter gives up crooked numbers, but as everyone says after the first game, there are 161 more.

Sabathia will undoubtedly be under a magnifying glass after a rocky start, but then again so will a lot of guys. It would have been simpler to chalk it up to Opening Day nerves had the game been against a more formidable opponent, but Sabathia has never been a great Opening Day starter. For his career, Sabathia has just one win in 11 Opening Day starts and an ERA over six.

Yankee fans have been waiting to see how the new-look Sabathia will perform, but one game is too small of a sample to get excited about. Had Sabathia dominated, it would have been unflattering due to the opponent. It will take at least a couple more shaky starts before Sabathia is relegated from his ace position.

Chris Raimondi is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisDRaimondi, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.