Yankees Midseason Report Cards: Starting Rotation

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Jun 29, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia (52) during batting practice before game against Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports /

CC Sabathia

Whether it is the stabilizing effect of the famous knee brace, the new cutter he learned from Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera this offseason, or kicking the alcohol issue that has plagued him since 2012, CC Sabathia has been a new man this season.

While nothing is going to bring back the fastball of his youth, Sabathia has been successful in the first half by mixing in a variety of offspeed offerings (he’s throwing his four seamer a career low 34.8% this season) and improving his command.

A 3.17 ERA halfway through the season is the absolute best case scenario for age 36 CC Sabathia. One could quibble about the fact that he’s been bombed in his last two starts (11 earned runs in 11.1 innings of work against the Rangers and Rockies), but he was bound to come back to earth slightly at some point.

Sabathia’s 3.66 FIP and 4.70 xFIP point to some future regression based on his peripheral stats, but even if he can be a passable back end starter the rest of this season and 2017, it will be more than the Yankees expected coming into this year. It still seems unlikely the Yankees can rely on Sabathia to be healthy and effective going forward given his recent history, but it has still been nice to see the big man have some success after struggling for so long.

2016 Midseason Grade: A

Next: Not-So-Nasty Nate

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