Mike Vaccaro

Mike Vaccaro

MLB

Yankees have fat chance with this version of CC Sabathia

HOUSTON — Velocity.

It’s a dirty word around the Yankees, a filthy word around CC Sabathia. The Yankees understandably don’t want to think too deeply about the ramifications of a version of Sabathia who can’t tick 90 on the radar gun; if they do, then that $76 million they still owe him starts to make Alex Rodriguez look like a clipped coupon.

Sabathia? As spring training ground on, as he started to retire Grapefruit League hitters with ease — 16 scoreless innings to close out March! — he began the buy-in process of transforming from gladiator to grinder, flamethrower to finesse.

“I’m comfortable with where I am,” he said.

He didn’t look comfortable Tuesday night, certainly not in the first two innings at Minute Maid Park, when the Astros used CC for BP, teeing off on fastballs that struggled to hit 88 on the gun, clobbering changeups that checked in at 83, all of them belt-high and inviting, most of the baseballs hit with a lot more velocity than they were thrown.

“It just snowballed,” Sabathia said. “Everything happened really quick.”

It was 4-0 after one, and if some shoddy defense behind Sabathia didn’t help, the two-run blast Jesus Guzman nearly hit clear out of the 713 area code is the one that raised some eyebrows. And so was the rocket L.J. Hoes blasted leading off the second inning, making it 5-0, Astros, on the way to 6-0, Astros, on the way to an unsettling 6-2 loss to a team that lost 111 games last year (including their last 15 straight) and has dropped 324 games the last three years.

“We knew we were going to lose one eventually,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi quipped. “So we got it out of the way early.”

It is just one of 162 for the Yankees, just one of 35 starts for Sabathia, and that’s what he was focusing on, that and the four scoreless innings that closed his outing and lowered his ERA from 36.00 in the second inning to 9.00 by game’s end (ah, small early-season sample sizes …).

But seeing the low-fidelity Astros lighting up the man who is still the club’s nominal ace wasn’t nearly as amusing. And while Sabathia insists he feels confident in his new reality as a beguiler rather than a dominator … well, it’s going to take some time to get used to. For him, and for everyone else.

There’s an old story that used to be a favorite on the rubber-chicken circuit: It seems Muhammad Ali, in those days when he was one of Earth’s most famous citizens, was settling into his first-class seat when a flight attendant tapped him on the shoulder.

“Sir,” she said, “you need to put your seat belt on.”

Ali smiled: “Superman don’t need no seat belt,” he said.

The flight attendant smiled back

“Superman,” she said, “don’t need no plane, either.”

See, that’s the thing about Sabathia: He really was Superman back in the day, eating innings, rushing it to the plate at 97 mph, ridiculous command, a complete give-me-the-ball gamer. And he was imposing, 6-foot-7, 300-plus, a bull-rushing defensive lineman in a baseball uniform.

That version of Sabathia is gone, probably forever. He’s a sleek, svelte 280 now. And the fastball that used to terrorize hitters, both sides of the plate, is no longer powered by kerosene but a keen sense of deception.

Superman may not need 98-mph gas.

But it was always a nice thing to have.

“This got out of hand early,” Sabathia said. “But I have 34 more starts and I’m definitely not going to pitch like that. I know I can pitch. I know I feel great.”

What he doesn’t know — what no one knows — is when the new repertoire, the new approach, is going to click.

Or if it will, truth be told.

“I think he was a little too hyped up at first,” Girardi said. “He settled down after that.”

Said Sabathia, several times, several different ways: “It’s a long year. I have a lot of starts left.”

Superman sounds confident, and so the Yankees play the part too. Really, they have no choice. Because if they’re wrong, they’ll all have to ponder the possibility of a really long year.