Palladino: Beefy Sabathia Feels Fine, But For How Long?
By Ernie Palladino
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Since spring training has always been a time for optimism, the Yankees have painted CC Sabathia's heavier frame and surgically repaired right knee as a positive.
He's ready to forge ahead, or so he and manager Joe Girardi told the media last week. The scale, now tipped back to 305 pounds following the intentional drop to 275 of the past two seasons, now heralds a return to the portliness that enabled the left-hander to dominate. The surgery that left his degenerative landing leg with no cartilage and the three platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections he received before camp have taken away the pain and prepared him for a business-as-usual approach to the exhibition season.
That's how the Yanks spin it. Really, they couldn't go any other way. While no longer their ace, Sabathia is still regarded as a No. 2 on a team desperate to return to the postseason after a two-year hiatus. Those 200-plus innings he ate up in the five years before his eight-start 2014 season have never been so needed.
The Yanks have no choice other than optimism. Even if they privately fret that the old Sabathia has left the building forever, the injuries and the $53 million they owe him over the next two years makes him unmovable even without his no-trade clause.
Those outside the fences of George M. Steinbrenner Field have options. They can look at things realistically, and that picture is a lot grimmer than the Yanks' version.
The fact is, Sabathia will have to be nursed through training camp and the season. Even at that, there is no guarantee he makes it all the way through. Even lasting until the All-Star break is a crapshoot.
For a rotation in which question marks comprise the first three spots, this is not good. If Masahiro Tanaka's partially torn ulnar ligament goes "Pop!" and Michael Pineda's back and shoulder problems arise again, the skipper again will have all to do to keep his ship from a Titanic dive under the AL East waves.
Sabathia can be a big part of the solution, but he could also be a big part of the problem. Girardi can't just put the ball in his big lefty's glove every five days. There must be physician checks, close attention to bullpen sessions, lots of talks with the pitcher about any pain that occurs.
If the knee swells, a common occurrence in degenerative conditions, doctors may have to drain it. The effects of 300-plus pounds landing on a knee stripped bare of cushion 90 to 100 times per game could cause repeated trips to the DL.
Girardi would love to see him throw the 211 innings of 2013, even if the won-loss numbers fall below the 14-13 he compiled that year. A repeat of last year's 46-inning season would be nothing short of disastrous.
Anything between that range is possible right now. Common sense, though, tells us something closer to the latter is more likely. A large man with a "bum knee," as Sabathia called it, can't help but run into trouble down the line.
It is almost inevitable.
So the Yankees will proceed through spring training watching and hoping that Sabathia can navigate through most of the season. The recent round of PRP injections may hold him until the All-Star break. But to get there, Girardi will have to play Sabathia as delicately as a Stradivarius.
"I'm able to go 100 percent and not feel anything," Sabathia said. "I wanted to come down here with a clear mind and just go out and pitch."
If it was only that simple.
