As much as I’ve mocked Sabathia’s physical condition, and as much as I expected him to take a step or two back this season, I was still shocked when he was dropped outright in my main head-to-head fantasy league. A keeper league, no less! Sure, his first few starts were awful – more than awful. But the Marlins are in first place in the NL East. Livan Hernandez is undefeated. Pat Burrell is batting .364. It’s April! And it’s cold in Cleveland in April. You don’t drop a reigning Cy Young winner after three starts. At least see what he’ll fetch in a trade. Surely, someone would have traded another player off to a disappointing start – an injured front of the line starter, say John Lackey or Pedro Martinez; a slumping power hitter somewhere between David Ortiz and Andruw Jones; or just another upper tier pitcher getting painfully knocked around in the early going ala Justin Verlander.
Through 2 innings now, Sabathia has 6 strikeouts, no earned runs against the Royals. Oy vey.
4 Comments
April 23, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Is Sabathia Back?
April 24, 2008 at 2:47 am
Partly. Last night he located his pitches, which was the problem in those first few starts, not velocity. The early flailing could have just been the stress of having to pitch for a contract – like Carlos Zambrano last year. But I still don’t see Sabathia recreating last year’s dominance – those innings are going to catch up to him eventually. Besides, that 11-strikeout gem was against the less than intimidating Royals. Let’s see what he does against the Yankees on Sunday.
April 25, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I disagree about the innings catching up with him. I think that if anyone (physically) should be able to carry that load it would be him… and from what I’ve heard from the Tribe management they believe that as well!
April 25, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I think the Indians showed with their 4 year offer that they worried about his durability — whether because of the innings, or just his weight and the lesson learned from Colon. For one reason or another, they’re assuming their 27-year-old lefthander will decline at the age many pitchers peak.