April 10, 2010

CC Sabathia no-hitter debate is ridiculous

I really didn’t think I was going to have to bother posting about whether the Yankees would’ve kept CC Sabathia in after Kelly Shoppach, but apparently I do.

Shoppach broke up Sabathia’s bid at a no-no on his 111th pitch. Manager Joe Girardi said after the game that Shoppach would’ve been the last hitter he faced.

There is no question if you’re the manager you leave the guy in to go for a no-hitter. It’s his second start of the season — not his first — and he’s CC Sabathia. You know, the guy who’s thrown more pitches than anyone in the last three years (10,981).

If it’s Phil Hughes and its his first start of the season, then yes, I might think about pulling him. But this is CC Sabathia.

If you’re really that worried about him, you could give him an extra couple days off after the outing (even though he would never go for that). The whole idea of 100 pitches is the time to take a pitcher out is ridiculous.

It’s all up to how the pitcher feels. And so many other factors go into that besides number of pitches, like the weather and the pace of the game.

It’s easy for Girardi to say that Shoppach was his last batter after the game ended, but it’s completely different than actually doing it.

Comments (3)

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I hate pitch counts, but that's the way things are done today. Totally disagree with you, because you want CC Sabathia to throw 130 pitches in August or September. Much more important than a no-no.
1 reply · active 786 weeks ago
CC said he didn't even know how many pitches he was at. If he retired Shoppach and told Girardi he was feeling good in between innings, you have to send him back out. As Shoppach said, it would've taken more than one person to drag him out of the game.

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