Yankees: C.C. Sabathia has outperformed many Hall of Fame pitchers

When a veteran like Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia retires from baseball, it’s often a pleasant and scrutinizing experience. Some beloved players are praised for their contributions to MLB, while some analysts rip apart the player’s legacy.

Let me save the BBWAA some time, and prove to them why Yankees starting pitcher C.C. deserves to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

On Saturday, Sabathia announced that 2019 would be his final season of professional baseball. It will be sad to see the big fella go because he’s been a leader on the field, in the clubhouse and the community.

Before I magnify his stats, let me add that add I’m confident Sabathia will remain close to the Yankees organization after 2019. First of all, he likely won’t be relocating from his beautiful home in New Jersey.

The main office for his charitable organization, The PitCCh In Foundation that helps inner-city youth operates in his home state. He’s also one half of the R2C2 Is Uninterrupted podcast with ESPN and YES Network sportscaster Ryan Ruocco.

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Lastly, Sabathia adores the Yankee organization, he has a positive influence on their young stars, and he loves baseball.

Sabathia’s Key Career Numbers

The career pitching stats that seem to matter most to be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame have changed over the years. Traditionally, wins, strikeouts and earned run average carry the most weight in consideration. However, WAR, WHIP, ratios over nine innings for strikeouts, walks and hits allowed can be supportive as well.

Compared to the last nine HOF pitchers elected, Sabathia’s stats have impressively outperformed all of them in individual areas. Let’s start with the numbers that carry the most weight.

Sabathia’s 246 career wins outperform Pedro Martinez‘s 219 and Roy Halladay‘s 203. His 2,986 career strikeouts rank 17th all time and best Mike Mussina, Jack Morris, Tom Glavine, and Roy Halladay. And Sabathia’s career ERA of 3.70 is nearly identical to Mike Mussina‘s 3.68 and it’s lower than Jack Morris‘ 3.90.

Now, on to the ratios: WAR, and WHIP. His 1.254 WHIP is lower than Tom Glavine‘s 1.314 and Morris’ 1.296. Hit 8.5 hits allowed per nine innings ratio is lower than Halladay’s, Mussina’s, Morris’ and Glavine’s.

His 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings are higher than Halladay’s, Mussina’s, Morris’, Glavine’s, Greg Maddux’s, and Bert Blyleven’s. His 2.7 walks per nine innings are lower than Morris’, Glavine’s and Randy Johnson‘s.

With the 2019 season upon us, it’s possible Sabathia will further improve his case. For example, he’s eight wins away from tying Jack Morris. I have no doubt Sabathia will eventually make it into the HOF. But let’s hope 2019 ends with Sabathia raising the World Series trophy one more time because he and the Yankees have unfinished business.