TAMPA — The buses were loading for the 23-mile trip to Dunedin and a game against the Blue Jays when CC Sabathia took the Steinbrenner Field main mound for what was truly the main event in the Yankees’ world yesterday.
The game was simulated, but not the importance.
Sabathia is probably the most indispensable Yankee — more than ever now because this team is going to rely on pitching in a greater fashion than perhaps any of its last 20 predecessors.
In the recent past, the Yankees could count on their offense to do a fair amount of bludgeoning, especially at home, to inflate their win-loss record. But that strategy is gone for at least April while Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira convalesce, and perhaps all season due to the irreversible impact of injuries and offseason defections.
The loss of offense, combined with the roster’s advancing age and the belief the AL East is going to play stronger from top to bottom than at any time in history has created a sense these Yankees might not even contend this year. Except the general manager of the flavor-of-the-month team in the AL East doesn’t believe it.
“A few things about the Yankees,” said Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos. “People want to count them out because of the injuries. Last year, Mariano Rivera, A-Rod, Joba [Chamberlain], [Brett] Gardner and [Andy] Pettitte were out for extended periods and they still won 95 games.
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“Just look at their rotation. You might not want it in five years, but I think just about any team would take their rotation in 2013. Tampa has shown in this division what you can do with a strong rotation. Last year the Rays lost [Evan] Longoria for most of the season, their offense probably wasn’t as good as the Yanks have now even without Teixeira and Granderson — and they still won 90 games. I am not counting the Yanks out, no way.”
The unspoken proviso was: if the rotation stays healthy. Which is why what Sabathia did yesterday with most of his teammates away was so important.
Pitching coach Larry Rothschild said if you didn’t know Sabathia had an elbow procedure in the offseason you would not have figured it out from the four innings and 52 pitches he worked against Zoilo Almonte and Corban Joseph. Sabathia said he is not even thinking about if his elbow will hurt anymore.
But here was Sabathia’s most encouraging sentence of all: “I’m ready to go.”
Sabathia is now scheduled to make his first spring start Friday to put him on a trajectory toward the Red Sox and the April 1 opener. It is part of what has become an oasis of good news the past few days in an otherwise despairing spring for the Yankees.
Pettitte has come through his simulated efforts so well that he is due to start Wednesday night, when Derek Jeter is scheduled to make his first start at shortstop and Rivera is due for his second spring game.
Phil Hughes (back) and Boone Logan (elbow) are reporting steady improvement that provides a stronger belief they will avoid the DL. Ivan Nova and David Phelps are performing well in their fifth starter battle; Phelps attacked Toronto’s lineup early in the count, especially with his breaking stuff, in working five shutout innings yesterday.
This is the Yankees’ ray of hope to overcome the offensive injuries/shortcomings and the improved AL East: Sabathia is an ace, Hiroki Kuroda and Pettitte continue to defy age in the 2-3 holes, Hughes, Nova and Phelps provide solid contributions on the back end, Michael Pineda looms as a June surprise and Jose Ramirez — so impressive in this camp — may even arise as a second-half option.
In relief, Rivera remains ageless and peerless to anchor what looks as if it can be a deep pen with legitimate alternatives at Triple-A.
“I don’t like to assume anything, so who knows what our offense will bring?” Rothschild said. “But, regardless, our intention anyway is to concentrate on what we do and pitch well.”
What does “well” mean? Probably 1,000 productive innings from the rotation (including 200-plus and 18-ish wins from Sabathia), a 3.70-or-lower team ERA and a lockdown look late from Logan, Chamberlain, David Robertson and Rivera just in case there are more 3-2 and 4-3 games.
“We felt like we needed to keep runs down and pitch well anyway,” Sabathia said. “So there is no added pressure.”
But there is added responsibility, whether it is acknowledged or not. If the Bronx Bombing has been unplugged, the Yankees will need a mound of reasons to scale this version of the AL East.