Interesting post from Tom Verducci on CC's diminished velocity.
Add CC Sabathia to the list of Yankees' worries
The disclaimer is important: it's only one game. But the way Sabathia threw Monday, on the heels of diminished stuff and an elbow cleanup last year, gives New York one more reason to be concerned about a slow start. He simply didn't show the usual arm speed and bite on his pitches, especially as he reached the fifth inning with a manageable number of pitches.
With two outs, manager Joe Girardi visited the mound to tell Sabathia to walk Johnny Gomes to get to lefthanded hitting rookie Jackie Bradley Jr. Sabathia was at 88 pitches. This was the best he could muster in a situation that called for the veteran to attack the rookie: 80 mph changeup for a ball, 88 mph fastball for a fouled strike, 89 mph fastball for a ball, 90 mph fastball for a ball, 90 mph fastball for a ball.
So it went most of the day for Sabathia, a guy whose average fastball last year dropped 1.5 mph to 92.3. You drop one mph off your fastball and the "Check Engine" light goes on; it's not to be taken lightly.
Now check out how his four-seam fastball of Opening Day 2013 compares to those from his four previous Opening Days with the Yankees:
CC Sabathia's Opening Day Fastball 2009-2013
Year Average Maximum
2009 94.54 96.1
2010 93.37 94.9
2011 92.68 94.7
2012 92.46 94.1
2013 89.92 91.7
The decline in velocity has been steady. Sabathia, by the way, was the fourth oldest Opening Day starter, trailing only the Blue Jays' R.A. Dickey, 38, the Braves' Tim Hudson, 37, and the Pirates' A.J. Burnett, 36.
On Monday Sabathia averaged only a six mph difference between his fastball and changeup (83 mph) -- not enough of a gap to be truly effective. After a spring in which the Yankees gave him only two of his starts in regulation major league "A" games (with 18 runners in 10 inning), Sabathia didn't show the kind of arm strength you would expect. Again: it's one start. But velocity three ticks below normal bears watching.
Fortunately, he's only under contract for (chuckle) four more years, by which time he'll probably be doing his best Jamie Moyer imitation.