Game Ten: Athletics 9, Indians 7

by Ryan on Apr 12, 2008 8:59 AM EDT in Game Recaps

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Jhonny Peralta	.096	CC Sabathia	-.382
Ryan Garko	.044	David Dellucci	-.064
Rafael Betancourt	.020	Jason Michaels	-.062

You know how sometimes a pitching line doesn't tell the whole story? This isn't one of those times:

3.1 IP, 9 ER, 12 H, 4 SO, 2 BB

Causes of CC's early-season struggles? There's no perceptible change in CC's velocity, and his pitch mix hasn't changed dramatically. And there's no physical problems:

Sabathia said he "felt great," which only made the night more difficult.

"There's no excuse ... why I'm pitching this way," he said. "It's just one of those things. But I've been here before, and I'm definitely going to get this thing right."

So is it his uncertain contract status? That uncertainty isn't changing until at least November. He's allowed 35 baserunners in 14 innings, a combination of not staying in the strike zone and, when in the strike zone, staying in the middle of the plate.

Even with Sabathia's problems, the Indians made a game of it, scoring six runs in the eighth inning, and brought the tying run to the plate. Huston Street settled things down, though, getting a weak fly from the bat of David Dellucci to end the rain-lengthened eighth. He then set the Indians down in order in the ninth.

Jorge Julio allowed the final two Sabathia runs to score in the fourth, but otherwise the bullpen was perfect, finishing out the game without allowing any more damage. Craig Breslow hasn't allowed a run in his four innings pitched this season.

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I suppose he could be feeling some pressure to show everyone that the Indians $90,000,000 really was an insult to a player of his caliber.

by DocNo on Apr 12, 2008 10:27 AM EDT reply actions

CC Sabathia stats vs Oakland in his career

are much, much higher than any other team.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/psplit.cgi?n1=sabatc.01&year=00

6.84 ERA, .312/.384/.474/.858

So my guess is that Sabathia gets nervous as hell when he faces his hometown crowd, and the A's take advantage.

A True American Hero

by Zonis on Apr 12, 2008 11:16 AM EDT reply actions

Prior to last night, though, his problems were almost entirely in Oakland, not facing Oakland in Cleveland. His vs-OAK-at-home numbers before last night were 4.50 ERA in 30 innings.

by Jay on Apr 12, 2008 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, if everyone's right that CC is feeling the pressure, that raises questions about how much we would want to invest in him. Let's see: we're arguing this is a guy who pitches poorly against his home town team (because of the pressure), who pitched poorly in the playoffs (trying to hard because of the pressure) and who is pitching poorly now because of the contract situation (pressure). That's not an ace, if that's an accurate read of what's going on. I'm not sure I buy the who argument I just made, but it does give one pause. If I'm going to spend megabucks on a pitcher, I don't want to do it on a pitcher who hasn't demonstrated the ability to come through in tough situations. I thought CC had gotten there, but his performance last October and this Spring is undermining my confidence that he has.

by peter m on Apr 12, 2008 11:49 AM EDT reply actions

I don't see pressure as having anything to do with it.

Remember two years ago when he was tipping his pitches? I think some of the coaches need to study those tapes.

Steel Nick

by nickjs21 on Apr 12, 2008 12:26 PM EDT reply actions

Yes, I think that might be (said so last night). But, I was just spinning out the logic of what people seem to be arguing.

by peter m on Apr 12, 2008 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions

I believe the turning point in that game was when the umpire called those two casilla fastballs strikes on dellucci to start his rain-interrupted AB.

STO showed the second on the pitch track, and it was nowhere near the zone. That put Dellucci down in the count 0-2.

And Street is not the dominator he's made out to be, but he certainly can be if he starts every count 0-2.

by xrickx on Apr 12, 2008 3:04 PM EDT reply actions

The turning point in the game was when Michaels boxed a routine single in the first inning. CC looked great prior to that, awful after. The TV guys actually noted that (not that they're such geniuses).

When you're down by 8 runs, everything has to go right for you to get back into it. So, I don't think a bad call late in the game is a turning point. It was inevitable that something would go wrong.

by peter m on Apr 12, 2008 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Cliff Lee is now our top left-hander until proven otherwise.

I kid.

I'm not too worried about CC. It doesn't look like he'll flat out dominate like he did last year, but I can't fathom a scenario where he isn't an impact player this season. Now Paul Byrd, on the other hand----one more start like the last and I'd hope he's placed on the DL or demoted to the bullpen as a long-man, pending an outright release.

by jhon on Apr 12, 2008 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

Cliff Lee is now our top left-hander until proven otherwise.

Hire Steve Phillips!

Wow ... that's just totally gross, even when it's only a joke.

by Jay on Apr 12, 2008 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions

CC will settle down. This will not be a Cy Young year, and he will have some bad outings. But I forecast a recovery from this start and he will work his way out of this mess. Willis will make sure of that.

by lesterjl on Apr 12, 2008 5:17 PM EDT reply actions