DETROIT — This is all about attitude adjustment — for the Yankees and their fans.
This is a new era for CC Sabathia. Throw away the radar guns … for now. No more Velo Panic.
For a game addicted to speed readings, that’s going to be a difficult challenge, but it must be done. Life is no longer about blazing fastballs for Sabathia, it’s about location and keeping the hitters off-balance. And when done properly the results can be fabulous.
Can this new Sabathia pull off this winning transformation?
Judging from yesterday, he can be a resounding success. With a fastball that sat at 90-91 mph most of the day, Sabathia baffled the Tigers’ hitters in a 7-0 win at Comerica Park. There was a 13-mph difference between his fastball and his change-up. The Tigers could not pick up the spin on the baseball. As a result Sabathia was able to succeed with his four-pitch arsenal.
I like this new version of Sabathia because it’s like watching another version of Andy Pettitte work his magic. It’s called pitching.
Sabathia pitched seven scoreless innings, giving up only four hits. He struck out four and walked three. The previous two games the Tigers scored 16 runs, so Sabathia’s success with a rather average fastball is worth noting.
That was good enough to beat blazing right-hander Justin Verlander, thanks in part to a stunning second-inning two-run home run from Jayson Nix, who had been 1-for-11 lifetime against Verlander with five strikeouts.
Listen to Pettitte’s insights on Sabathia:
“This guy can throw four pitches for strikes,’’ Pettitte told The Post. “He knows how to pitch, he locates, and he’s going to win. The problem is when you can’t locate. A lot of guys aren’t strike throwers. He’s a strike thrower. If you are wild, you can’t survive.’’
Sabathia’s velocity is down, but his pitching ability is up as he evened his record at 1-1 and gave the Yankees another big win.
Here’s the real key, according to Pettitte, a pitcher who knows how to make adjustments.
“CC is going to continue to evolve because he doesn’t throw 96 like he used to and he’s just too good not to learn how to continue to just pitch,’’ Pettitte said. “I never threw like him. The hardest pitch I ever threw in my life was like 94, but I didn’t used to pitch like I pitch now.’’
After elbow issues Pettitte made the adjustments and re-learned how to throw his curve ball and his changeup. Sabathia is making the same adjustments in his new pitching world.
“My fastball command was a lot better,’’ Sabathia said, “and my change-up worked early.’’
The evolution continues for Sabathia and after his poor first start against the Red Sox, he realized he had to pitch in more to make his change-up even more effective and to not leave any fastballs over the middle of the plate.
Command. Leave the radar gun behind.
“If you’re pitching well, nobody gets caught up in the velocity,’’ manager Joe Girardi said. “That’s the bottom line. It’s like the guy that’s heavy, if he’s pitching well, we don’t care what his weight is. Over time pitchers lose velocity. That’s part of what it is, it’s an aging process.
“In my heart, I believe in the summer he is going to throw hard,’’ Girardi added.
Asked if Sabathia can be successful long-term throwing 91, Girardi’s response was immediate: “Absolutely. CC has never been a guy who tries to strike everybody out. We can get caught up in the velocity but I don’t think it is going to determine his fate.’’
Sabathia knows how to pitch just as Pettitte knows how to pitch.
“For him to be effective his command has to be good.”
Same goes for Pettitte.
The Yankees will have to lean on these two veteran lefties like never before because of all the other injuries and the mix-and-match lineup.
Don’t focus so much on the radar readings. Just enjoy the show.