CC Sabathia began the 2008 season terribly. After four starts, the large lefty sported a 13.50 ERA through 18 innings, prompting me (and many others) to wonder what’s wrong.
As it turned out, either nothing was wrong, or whatever it was could be easily fixed. Because since those four starts Sabathia has thrown 230 innings – more than most pitchers throw in a full season. And over those 230 innings, Sabathia has been nothing short of incredible. In fact, here is how CC Sabathia’s last 230 innings compares to some of the other best pitching performances since 1996:
|
Name |
Year |
IP |
ERA |
BB |
K |
HR |
BABIP |
|
CC Sabathia |
2008 |
235 |
1.88 |
45 |
237 |
14 |
0.285 |
|
J. Peavy |
2007 |
223 |
2.53 |
68 |
240 |
13 |
0.273 |
|
P. Martinez |
2000 |
217 |
1.74 |
32 |
284 |
17 |
0.236 |
|
P. Martinez |
1997 |
241 |
1.90 |
67 |
305 |
16 |
0.258 |
|
K. Brown |
1996 |
233 |
1.89 |
33 |
159 |
8 |
0.259 |
|
G. Maddux |
1997 |
232 |
2.20 |
20 |
177 |
9 |
0.280 |
|
R. Clemens |
1997 |
264 |
2.05 |
68 |
292 |
9 |
0.294 |
Remember, overall offensive levels are lower this year than in previous years. Also, we obviously can’t give Sabathia a complete mulligan for his awful four starts at the beginning of the season. But that being said, CC’s performance this year has been historically good.