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CC Sabathia's Performance Has Been Historically Good

 

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.