Fangraphs has a look at CC Sabathia’s rough start yesterday, and found that there is nothing for Yankees fans to be worried about:
Despite what Joe Morgan stated, Sabathia’s velocity was fine. Sabathia’s average fastball touched just over 93 miles per hour, and topped out at 95. Over the last three seasons, Sabathia’s average fastball velocities are 93.7, 92.9, and 93.7. Either Morgan was unaware and fabricating excuses for the Yankees’ new ace, or he simply has no idea how hard Sabathia normally throws.
In fact, the only slight difference between Sabathia yesterday and Sabathia of yesteryear was pitch usage; ~59% fastballs (right around average), 28% sliders (a tick above normal), 12% change-ups (a tick below) and one curveball. Oh, and yes, those velocities were all in check as well. Everything moved as it should, and if you don’t want to take my word for it, look below and guess which pitches are from yesterday and which are from Sabathia’s best start last season – as determined by WPA.
Click the link to Fangraphs to see the actual graph and a brief explanation of what it means. Basically, Anderson finds that CC’s pitches were at their proper speed and moved in their typical way, and command was the only issue that plagued Sabathia, as the big lefty stated himself. So there you have it: evidence that Sabathia is not injured or suffering from some sort of dead arm. He just had a bad day, and hopefully he is better the second time around.
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