CC Sabathia

2013

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2012

The big lefty had another fantastic season in 2011, going 19-8 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.226 WHIP. Sabathia's conditioning remained a topic of debate in the New York press in 2011, and he did appear to wear down a bit as the season progressed; after a dominant eight-start run from June through August where he went 7-1 with a 1.00 ERA, 0.910 WHIP, and 78 strikeouts in 62.2 innings, he went just 3-3 with a 4.31 ERA and 1.533 WHIP the rest of the way. Sabathia sounded really crushed by both the Yankees' playoff loss and his own late-season performance, so perhaps he'll turn that disappointment into improved conditioning, but even with his September swoon he remains one of the top starting pitchers to grab on draft day.

2011

Sabathia's second year in the Bronx unfolded just as smoothly as the first, and at this point you can basically pencil him in for around 230 innings, 200 strikeouts and 20 wins. As long as he stays healthy, and he's been remarkably durable throughout his career, he'll again be one of the most dominant and most reliable starting pitchers in baseball.

2010

Sabathia somehow lived up to $161 million dollars worth of expectations in 2009, posting numbers that were remarkably similar to his 2007 Cy Young campaign: 19-8, 230.0 IP, 197 K, 1.148 WHIP (his 2007 numbers: 19-7, 241.0 IP, 209 K, 1.141 WHIP). Pitching in hitter-friendly new Yankee Stadium didn’t seem to harm his totals one bit, and he remains one of fantasy baseball’s elite starting pitching options.

2009

Sabathia was arguably the best pitcher in baseball during the 2008 season, but split his stats between two teams. His size does concern some that he'll have issues down the road, but the Yankees landed him with a seven-year, $161 million contract in December, and he'll head to the Bronx as the ace in a rebuilt rotation. While he should get plenty of run support and with that a better chance to win games, he'll also face tougher competition in the AL East.

2008

Nineteen wins. 209 strikeouts. 3.21 ERA. 1.141 WHIP. Add it all up and you have the AL Cy Young award winner. Toss in a league-leading 241 innings and you've got a fantasy goldmine. Sabathia posted a remarkably similiar season the year before but only managed a 12-11 record in 28 starts after landing on the DL with an abdominal strain after his first start. There will be talk of all those innings maybe catching up to him, but Sabathia has never thrown less than 180 innings in his seven-year career. He's failed to make less than 30 starts just once. The big fella may simply have the ability to handle all those innings. The Indians will try to sign him to a long-term deal as he's set to hit the free agent market after this season. As long as he's healthy, expect another big season from Sabathia.

2007

Can we all stop talking about how much Sabathia weighs and concentrate on what he does on the diamond? The now 26-year-old put up another stellar 2006, posting a career low 3.22 ERA, but because of terrible run support could only muster 12 wins. The pitch-count issue has gone away, as manager Eric Wedge has made it a point to keep him under wraps early in the season, while allowing him to let loose late. Barring injury, which is true of any ace, there is no reason to think Sabathia will not continue his progress.

2006

Sabathia has been a rock in the Cleveland rotation since coming up in 2001 and going 17-5. He's put up consistent numbers and steadily improved -- dropping his walks per nine innings from 4.74 in 2001 to 2.84 in 2005. Staying healthy has always been the key for Sabathia, who is a big guy and has pitched at or close to 200 innings for five straight seasons. The workload does wear him down, but the nicks and cuts -- like the strained oblique in 2005 -- don't seem to knock him out for long.

2005

Sabathia, who is a power pitcher and the ace of the Indians staff, lends much of his success in the past couple of years to his improving control. His walks decreased the last two seasons while most of his other stats have stayed about the same. He has also focused more in the past few years of getting more ground ball outs instead of trying to overpower every batter with strikeouts. In 2005, with a more experienced Indians team, Sabathia might be in position to win more games. One bit of caution - Sabathia was sidelined with a shoulder injury in 2004 and carried a high pitch-count burden at a young age. Perhaps he'll avoid significant injury in 2005, but actuarially speaking he's a high-risk pitcher.

2004

Sabathia continues to exceed our expectations, lowering his ERA and WHIP in his third full season. We're still concerned about his workload - he averaged 104.8 pitches per start in 2003, third-highest in the AL (stat courtesy of the Bill James 2004 Handbook), and has thrown 588 innings in his first three years in the league. Sabathia's control improved last year, averaging 3.00 walks per nine innings after giving 3.77 per nine the year before.

2003

Three reasons to be optimistic about Sabathia in 2003 – he had a scintillating August and September, posting a 2.90 ERA; he cut down his HR-allowed rate; and he cut his walk rate. Three reasons to be pessimistic about Sabathia in 2003 – he pitched 210 innings while turning 22 in July; he struck out considerably fewer batters per nine innings, from 8.5 in 2001 to 6.4 in 2002; he has a questionable off-field lifestyle. The lifestyle concerns and his overall physical fitness have us worried the most.