After CC Sabathia was traded from the Indians to the Brewers in early July, ESPN's Buster Olney wrote in his daily MLB blog that an astute reader thought of a very likely scenario: Won't the Brewers, knowing they probably can't afford to re-sign Sabathia once he becomes a free agent this off-season, pitch the hell out of him knowing that they won't suffer the inevitable physical repercussions of his high pitch counts? Well, apparently so.
Sabathia has been pitching so well that the Brewers have had no problem leaving him on the mound for entire games.
In 18 starts for the Indians earlier this season, Sabathia pitched every frame three times, including two shutouts. His average pitch count per start: 107.4 pitches.
In nine starts for the Brewers, Sabathia has gone the full tilt five times, two of which were shutouts. His average pitch count per start: 112.8 pitches.
Three of his four highest pitch counts this year (all over 122 pitches) have come with the Brew Crew, including a season-high 130-pitch barnburner last night.
There's no doubt Sabathia is pitching better now than he did to open the season, when he allowed 27 earned runs in 18 innings over his first four starts, and it seems like the Brewers are trying to take full advantage of it. After giving up hotshot hitting prospect Matt LaPorta for (probably) half a season of Sabathia, the Brewers are trying to pry as much value as they can out of Sabathia's left arm.
NOTE: I see Buster Olney blogged about this as well, so you can read what he said here.
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2 comments:
I was thinking the same thing last night watching Baseball Tonight; they kept showing these highlights of his strikeouts. In every highlight he had 2 to 3 guys on base, hell even in the 9th he had the bases loaded. The problem here is that if CC decides it isn't in his best interest to keep throwing so many innings he will be labeled selfish, but the Brewers wont get the same label if they don't sign him after the season. I think the player's union might have to start an inquiry.
You're a trendsetter!
http://www.imwritingsports.com/baseball/are-the-brewers-abusing-cc/
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