There’s a distinct difference between renting and owning. When you own something, and you know you need it to last for a while, you’re going to treat it delicately. But when something isn’t yours, and you have access to it for a limited amount of time, chances are, you’ll beat the hell out of it. In these situations you push things to the limit, and why not? It’s not really yours. If it’s a car you’ll push that pedal a little harder than you would in your own vehicle, maybe you’ll even take it off road. Or if your in Vegas. and happen to rent a woman- well, let’s just you don’t have to look her in the eye in the morning.
This is the mentality the Brewers have instituted in their handling of CC Sabathia. They gave up one of the best prospects in the game to get him, in exchange for one shot at glory, so now their going to get everything out of him while they can. They don’t have to look him in the eye once this thing is over, so why not? The guy is an absolute workhorse, so they’ve thrown caution to the wind and allowed him to pitch deep into games, which also allows them to rest their bullpen. There’s no way he’s going to sign with them next year, so they’re going to ride him into the dirt like Big Brown.
The problem is, if they keep working him out like this he may not be able to take the mound in October. Last season Sabathia wore out after logging 241 innings during the regular season, and then went on to post a 8.94 ERA in the playoffs. This season he’s already at 195 and we’re only half-way through August.
I’m all for keeping him in a close game, but at this point they’re just using him to use him. Why not save his arm for the playoffs? Tuesday night they marched Sabathia out for the seventh inning with a 7-2 lead over the Astors, then again in the eighth with an 8-2 lead, and finally again in the ninth with a 9-2 lead, allowing him to throw a career high 130 pitches in the process. There’s no real metric that measures when a pitcher exceeds the threshold, but clearly, leaving Sabathia in this game was just irresponsible.
Yea, Sabathia has been extremely efficient thus far. He’s 8-0 with a 1.60 ERA in his nine games with the club, five of which he’s completed, but he isn’t a machine. I wouldn’t be surprised if his arm flew off and landed in the stands at this point, only to reappear on E-Bay the next morning, if they keep using him like this. He’s averaging a little more than 8 innings a start with the Brewers, and if continues to do so he’ll be well over 250 heading into the playoffs. Seeing as how he wore down last season, the Brewers might want to unhitch themselves from his back and allow the bullpen to carry some of the load so CC’s there for them in October.
The blame doesn’t just fall on the Brewers, though. Sabathia has the reputation of being the consummate professional, so he’d never turn the ball down when called upon, but when do you reach that point of enough is enough? Somewhere in the back of his mind he has to realize that he’s being abused here. If he goes all nine in three of his last seven starts, he’ll match Roy Halladay for the major league lead in complete games… while with Milwaukee, he’s already there overall. At some point CC needs to start thinking about CC, there’s hundreds of millions of dollars riding on his arm. No one would call him selfish if he asked out of a game, not with his team up by seven runs. But, if he fails to do so, and ends up falling apart, he has no one to blame but himself if he doesn’t speak up.
His warrior like performance has sparked several debates over Sabathia’s Cy Young candidacy, and some have even went so far as to put him up for the MVP, but that’s not the point. While his run with the Brewers is nothing short of amazing, you have to wonder if this half-season is going to shorten his career. Whoever signs him during the offseason better be ready to watch him spend a good amount of time on the DL.
“I would never do that to anybody,” Brewers Manager Ned Yost responded to allegations of him overusing Sabathia. “I respect him as a player, I respect him as a person and he’s got a family. I know how this business works, and he has to provide for his family, and I would never do anything to take away from that ability. I just couldn’t live with myself. That’s just not the type of person I am.”
Well, Ned, you aren’t that type of person until you are, and that could happen real soon.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Zac 08.21.08 at 1:19 pm
Jesus Christ, what is this, Little League? If the guy thinks he’s being overworked, he needs to say so. If he says nothing and allows himself to suffer permanent damage, he’s got no one to blame but himself.
Marc 08.21.08 at 3:35 pm
I agree that with a 7 run lead there’s no sense in putting him back out there, especially with his pitch count over 100 already. Yost is just a fool in that regard. But it’s really not innings to worry about, it’s pitch count. For the most part I think CC has been relatively efficient. In his 5 complete games with Milwakee, he threw 122, 110, 106, 103, 130 pitches.
With exception of that last game which had an unfortunate combo of blowout score and high pitch count, and a 124 pitch count when Yost tried to squeeze out an extra inning in his one loss, Yost hasn’t been too irresponsible. Most of those are 6 or 7 inning pitch counts for a lot of starters.
That being said, if Yost pulls another move like that, he’s going to be crucified by the fans and media.
Nick Underhill 08.21.08 at 3:45 pm
@Zac- I’m not even going to touch that. He’s put in serious work since coming over. In a start like his last one he needs to be pulled from the game. So yea, it’s not little league, they need to keep a closer eye on things like this, and Sabathia needs to say no in a situation such as that.
It’s obvious they aren’t going to protect him like a Ben Sheets. Where’s the motivation?
@Marc- As always, good comment. I believe it was a game against Chicago where CC struggled big time, 120-some pitches in the sixth inning. Those are the games to worry about. I agree, innings shouldn’t be the only factor to consider in this debate, but they are part of the equation.
big bill 08.21.08 at 8:02 pm
nick, thats the problem with all these primadonas instead of going to the weight room or to the whirlpool or to be iced down, i think they should do like the old timers did. PIZZA, BEER, WILD WOMEN. To hell with pitch count, give me the damn ball AND GET OUT OF MY WAY.
Nick Underhill 08.21.08 at 11:42 pm
@Big Bill-
That’s one way to look at things, and back in your day I’m sure you didn’t see some of the injuries we see today. It seems like these guys are always hurt, but at the same time, you also saw some of arms perish before they should have. Sandy Koufax only lasted until he was 30 because he was used up before his prime. Three of his last four years in the league he came dangerously close to facing 1,300 batters. Now-a-days 1,000 is considered a lot. But that’s also the reason you see guys going into their forties these days instead of gassing out in the their 30’s.
killerlu 08.22.08 at 1:12 pm
Not that Yost was right in letting him pitch so much. ..(Dusty Baker is somewhere smiling!)…but the reason he could allow C.C. to throw so many pitches was because he is keeping his pitchers on a five-man rotation, but they DO have an extra day off. So he has six days of rest instead of five. I would have preffered C.C. pitched LESS, just so he could be used on five days rest and just have Yost skip “Bushie”’s turn to pitch.
Man, finally (!) i find a blog where the comments are made intelligently without expletives.
Nick Underhill 08.22.08 at 3:03 pm
Lu,
That’s a good point, but the thing is, even with an extra day of rest, that’s kind of insane to let him keep going like that. But if CC says he’s good to go, then I guess he’s good to go.
And thanks, I pride myself on keeping things on a higher level here.