ST. PETERSBURG — Two years ago the Yankees’ rotation was dubbed “CC & The ? Marks.”
Today, the biggest question in the rotation is the largest member. And if CC Sabathia doesn’t discover answers quickly the “Smoke & Mirror Act” that has carried the Yankees across the first seven weeks won’t be enough.
“I am hurting the team, I am not helping the team out,” Sabathia said after absorbing an 8-3 loss to the Rays on Sunday in front of 24,159 at Tropicana Field. “I need to get better.”
Sabathia hasn’t won since April 27. Since then he is 0-2 with a 4.86 ERA.
When the Yankees’ clubhouse door was opened pitching coach Larry Rothschild was sitting with Sabathia at the pitcher’s locker.
Sabathia and Rothschild said their discussion “is private.” Yet, Sabathia’s struggles are very public.
Where once his fastball was clocked between 95 and 97 mph, it’s in the 89 to 91 range. And since it’s been almost two months and 11 starts it’s safe to describe the 32-year-old lefty as a pitcher in transition.
Sabathia insists he is healthy and the drop in velocity hasn’t affected him. Instead, it was a lack of aggressiveness working inside that hurt him when he gave up seven runs and seven hits in seven innings and fell to 4-4. It’s the first time since 2008 that he has been .500 or worse this late in the season.
Sabathia was dinged by two cheap runs in the second inning. That changed in the third when a sinking fastball cut into Sea Rodriguez’ swing and turned into a two-run homer and a 4-0 lead. Two innings later Sabathia intended to challenge James Loney with a 1-2 fastball in and missed. Loney turned that mistake into another two-run home run and the Rays were on their way to avoiding being swept by the Yankees at home for the first time since 2005.
Even if Sabathia (3-7; 4.39 ERA in 16 starts at Tropicana Field) was sharp it wouldn’t have mattered because Alex Cobb dominated the Yankees for the second time in as many starts.
Cobb carried a shutout into the ninth when Brett Gardner opened with a homer. The right-hander who is 6-2 exited with one out in the final frame.
“He mixed his pitches up and had a good change-up,” Robinson Cano said of Cobb.
The Yankees mounted a mini-rally against the Rays’ bullpen in the ninth when David Adams’ drove in two with a bases-loaded double off the wall but it wasn’t enough to head to Citi Field and the Mets tonight riding a three-game winning streak.
Rothschild said he is working on cleaning up some minor mechanical issues with Sabathia and is reinforcing in the ace’s mind what kind of pitcher he has been.
“Look at what you have done and when you take the mound that’s what you have to imagine,” is Rothchild’s message. “Not only does he know that but everybody he faces knows that. It’s all part of the game, the game within the game. The track record is there and it’s not because of the stuff he has. It’s there because of the way he competes.”
That mentality is what the Yankees are relying on from a pitcher making the transition who has 195 big league wins and takes pride in being the staff leader.
Yet, staff leaders aren’t 4-4 as May moves into June. Nor are they 0-2 with 4.86 ERA across a five-start period.
The Yankees’ biggest question mark stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 285 pounds. How it is answered will define what type of season the Yankees experience.