FINDING A WAY: CC Sabathia held the Diamondbacks to three runs over eight innings in the Yankees’ 4-3 victory last night at Yankee Stadium, picking up his third win of the season. (Paul J. Bereswill)
CC Sabathia’s fastest pitch last night was 90 miles per hour, and four starts into the season, the Yankees’ ace is coming to grips with the possibility his time as a power pitcher could be over.
“It might be,” the left-hander said. “I’ll deal with whatever comes.”
Last night, after surrendering a leadoff double to A.J. Pollock and then a one-out homer to Paul Goldschmidt, Sabathia was able to adjust to the potential new reality and come up with another solid performance in a 4-3 victory over Arizona in The Bronx.
“I’m hoping more velocity comes back,” Sabathia said after winning his third straight start to improve to 3-1. “But if not, then I’m working with this.”
Though that could be a scary thought for the Yankees, the 32-year-old said he was prepared to make the necessary adjustments, and that he could succeed with a fastball that tops out at 90 instead of 95.
“If I make pitches, [it will be OK],” Sabathia said. “I always used to take something off when I had more velocity and then hump it up when I needed to. So I can pitch like this. It’s definitely going to be hard, but I’ve got guys in here I can turn to — Andy [Pettitte] — who I can work on a game plan with.”
The game plan against the Diamondbacks included plenty of changeups. It was a pitch Sabathia lost faith in early in the game, but Francisco Cervelli kept calling it and it became more effective as the game went on.
It’s the kind of thing Sabathia might have to do more of if his elite fastball is no longer part of his arsenal.
When asked if this could be the start of a new chapter in his career, Sabathia didn’t run away from the question.
“You never know,” Sabathia said. “I’ve never been through anything like this, so I don’t know. But I’m not going to lose sleep over it. I’ve been pitching for a long time. Eventually, it’s going to happen.”
Sabathia said knowing that isn’t tough to deal with.
“Not 13 years into the big leagues,” Sabathia said. “It’s something everybody’s going to go through. We’ll see if this is my time.”
Manager Joe Girardi sounded confident his ace could remain at the top of his game without throwing in the mid-90s.
“He’s the same guy,” the manager said. “It’s not the same velocity. … But it’s the same guy. The bottom line is, he has to hit spots. You get away with a little more at 95 [mph].”
Sabathia struck out six and dispatched the Diamondbacks with relative ease after the first — other than serving up a leadoff triple to Josh Wilson, who scored on Pollock’s sacrifice fly.
Sabathia had arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow during the offseason, but that did not magically bring his fastball back.
“Any time you get cut, you feel a little nervous,” Sabathia said. “Coming back, you don’t know what’s going to happen. This is new for me. I never had anything wrong with my arm. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Sabathia said he can tell the difference in his pitches even without seeing the radar gun.
“The hitters’ swings; fouling off pitches; being behind; being able to get a little extra when you need it,” Sabathia said.
For now, Sabathia said he will continue to try to figure out a way to find the lost velocity.
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” Sabathia said. “I can’t throw any harder.”