CC Sabathia has proven already this season that he is still more than capable of stringing together quality starts, but that does not mean the left-hander plans to play until he has nothing left in the tank.
Sabathia, who has allowed just one earned run in his past four outings, is a big reason why the New York Yankees are off to one of their best starts in franchise history. And if they end up capping it off with a World Series title, the 37-year-old is planning to call it a career.
“I want one more parade and pretty sure that will be it,” Sabathia told George A. King III of The New York Post over the weekend. “I thought I had it last year.”
While he clearly made the right choice to keep playing this season, Sabathia says he probably would have retired last year had the Yankees won their first championship since 2009.
“That’s what you play for,” he said. “But you got to get it first. … You always want that feeling. It feels like 20 seasons (ago that the Yankees won it all). That’s all you play for.”
Sabathia is 2-0 this season with a 1.39 ERA in six starts. His velocity isn’t quite what it used to be, but the veteran has found ways to adjust accordingly and become less of a strikeout pitcher. When you take into consideration some of the off-field issues he has dealt with in recent years, it’s pretty remarkable that he has been one of the better pitchers in baseball at age 37.
