Sa-bath-i-ah; noun, verb
1. The last name of Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia.
"Dad, can we go see C.C. Sabathia pitch today?"
2. To have a Cy Young hangover
"Man, he's pulling a real Sabathia this year.

That's right, I'm petitioning to get it into the dictionary. The only thing hot about C.C. right now is the latest pizza he ordered after his horrific start against the Tigers. It's embarrasing to post his numbers, considering I am one of the many disappointed owners.

Courtesy of fangraphs.com, below are the "Win Probability" graphs formulated by them for each of the games Sabathia has pitched this year.

Game 1:


This game is a rare situation compared to the other three, because CC got an extroardinary ammount of run support in the first few innings. Sabathia ended up pitching 5.1 innings, giving up two home runs, five total earned, but managed seven! strikeouts.

Game 2:


CC got run support early once again, but still managed to lose the game. CC stayed in once again for 5.1 innings, and as you see, the A's were about an 80% favorite to win the game at that time. He managed to allow six hits, four walks, four earned runs, and an impressive two strikeouts.

Game 3:


Going into the game, CC owners still have hope. After all, he won the Cy Young in 2007. He has to do good...eventually. This turned out to be CC's worst game by far this year. In his second start against the A's he allowed 12 hits, nine earned runs (no HR), two walks, and managed four strikeouts all in 3.1 innings of "work." (a term I am using loosly)

Game 4:


I must point out, the night preceeding this game, I had a trade in line to send CC and Brad Hawpe packing for Jose Reyes. I was pumped, hopefully he can accept it before he starts I thought to myself. The other owner responded in an e-mail later that night with the following statement.

"To be honest, the more I look at CC, the less I like him. I just feel like I would be selling Reyes lower than I would like. Thanks for the offer, but I'm going to keep Reyes for the time being and wait for his value to go back up."

Sure you have to expect CC's numbers to go up, but a trade like this would have locked up the league title for me. Had I not had Sabathia this year, I would be 5-6 spots higher in WHIP and ERA, which would have put me in a clear first place lead.

Back to the game. The Tigers started off slow, but at this point had begun a little hot streak. After this game, they would have scored 30 runs in 3 games, a huge ammount. This had to be the game he would rebound! Hes a Cy Young winner!

That clearly didn't happen. CC for once threw a couple of strong innings (getting help from the defense). It was all looking good. At least he wouldn't kill my ERA, and if the Indians offense could step it up a notch, he could get a win (gasp!)

Things went downhill...fast. CC left the game giving his team a 1.4% chance of winning. (Side note: how would it feel to be an Indians hitter at this point? Do you just ask for the day off when CC pitches for now on, knowing that even if you do score it will have little implications on the game?)

CC managed to allow eight hits, two home runs, nine total earned runs, walk five batters, and strike out ONE batter.

Looking back, duh I regret taking Sabathia. And you should too.

But lets not set him down so quickly. I should point out, I didn't make the trade offer originally, the other owner approached me. Maybe there is hope. Maybe there is a fighting chance. Until then, he will remain on my bench, before he can post a somewhat decent start.

Lets face it, if he doesnt rebound, it will just bring more popularity to my new favorite word, "Sabathia."