Yankees: CC Sabathia heating up at the right time

Yankees veteran pitcher CC Sabathia has pitched well this summer. With practically every other starter on the DL, he is worth a short-term add.

The New York Yankees are finding their stride with additions to the offense and bullpen. They could use another arm in the rotation, but some of the current ones are doing just fine. One of them being CC Sabathia.

Sabathia has been one more the more consistent options for the Yankees and a surprise addition this season. He has a 3.44 ERA, 1.281 WHIP, 71:35 K:BB ratio and a 9-3 record in 16 starts. His recent starts have made him a viable replacement for all of the injured pitchers.

Since May 16, nine starts, Sabathia is 7-1 with one no decision. In that span, he has a 1.62 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 37 strikeouts and 18 walks. Seven of those starts were also quality starts.

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In five of his last six starts, Sabathia has allowed zero or one run. However, one of those starts only lasted four innings. The sixth start was against the Toronto Blue Jays and he allowed four runs in 2.2 innings.

The downside is that he doesn’t pitch deep into games. He has just one start all season that went eight innings and one went 7.1 innings. Sabathia averaged 86.5 pitches and 5.1 innings over his last six starts.

If you are looking for wins and low ratios, Sabathia could be your guy. If you need innings and strikeouts, you may need to look elsewhere.

Sabathia ranks 45th on the Player Rater for the season, 99th over the last 30 days and 27th over the last 15. I believe the abundance of injuries helps his season-long rating but the numbers prove he still has potential as a fantasy option.

Sabathia will make his next start at home against the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday. The Rays are not hitting well this month, .239/.307/.403 with 23 home runs and 74 runs scored in 20 games. Sabathia has limited the long ball recently which is important in Yankee Stadium.

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Because fantasy owners are looking for anyone to fill the openings left by injured starting pitchers, Jake Odorizzi owners now joining the fray, pitchers with a decent past are getting looks. Sabathia has been added in nine percent of ESPN leagues over the last week.

He has a good enough matchup to use as a streaming option.