Why C.C. Sabathia Should Have A Better 2015 Season

To be perfectly fair to our dear C.C. Sabathia, his recent problems may not be his fault. A few years back he was the ace of the Yankees and a full fledged superstar. He was the type of guy who, when he took the mound, you just knew the team was going to win. Then he lost some weight and then lost some more weight and last year his skills seem to totally vanish.

For someone like C.C., whose career was nothing short of amazing until 2013, it was nothing short of agonizing to watch him labor over every pitch. Then out of the blue he went to the disabled list with what was described as “fluid in the knee” which was soon elevated to a degenerative knee. What in the world is a degenerative knee and how could this odd injury be the key to the 34-year-old Sabathia’s possible return to dominance in 2015?

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C.C. Sabathia is a big guy. He’s a towering figure at 6’7″ and for a long time the big gun was a very overweight individual. Pitching is a very unnatural motion for the human body and someone as big as Sabathia put a lot of wear and tear on his knee with each throw. After a while, even despite the significant weight loss, Sabathia’s knee began to break down and cause problems that went largely unrecognized. According to doctors, the degenerative knee could’ve been festering for many seasons and that would be the main cause of his drop in fastball velocity (Which is of course the root cause of his recent struggles).

With Masahiro Tanaka, who should be capable of pitching a full season after undergoing successful rehab on his partially torn UCL, now the undisputed Yankees ace and almost certainly the Opening Day starter C.C., will have to earn his keep with the team’s crowded starting rotation.

But if he could pitch anywhere close to his former Cy Young Award winning self, it’d be huge for the Yankees. He led the Yankees to a World Series once back in 2009. Maybe now he could help do it again.