CC Sabathia is the first Hall of Famer to be voted into the Class of 2025, and he has a really good case.
I’ve thought for the past few years that he might have a hard time getting into the Hall. I know there’s a certain segment of voters and fans who will say things like, “He’s a Hall of Famer, but he’s not a first-ballot Hall of Famer.” Some people may think he doesn’t belong.
In the case of the latter argument, I strongly disagree.
First of all, Sabathia is a man who has successfully combined the pinnacle of the elite with longevity, during which time he has compiled an impressive dossier of aggregate statistics. Second, the continued changes in how starting pitchers are used have led to key players not only accumulating a huge number of innings compared to their contemporaries, but also excelling during that time. I think they should give bonus points.
In my case, CC comes in without bonus points. Bonus points make him more certain. Let’s take a closer look.
peak
Sabathia made his debut in 2001 at the age of 20, but he can easily zero in on his seven-year peak from 2006 to 2012. Generally speaking, and often used in the JAWS system, a player’s peak is considered to be his or her best seven years, so this is a perfect fit. This was during Sabathia’s prime years, from age 25 to 31.
He won 122 games over those seven years, averaging 17 wins per season. This is an outrageous number for the 2000s. He posted a 3.14 ERA, an ERA over 140, and a WHIP of 1.16. He struck out 1,453 batters, averaging over 200 on the year.
Most impressive was his work rate, averaging 227 innings per season. For 7 years! In total, that’s 1,591 2/3 innings of work over seven years, or a 40% better job at giving up runs than the average pitcher. He also had 29 complete games and 10 shutouts, at a time when that was becoming increasingly rare. He led the league in complete games and shutouts three times each.
Does that sound like peak Hall of Famer?
longevity
Sabathia played part of 19 seasons, posting impressive wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched.
He accumulated 251 wins and 161 losses (winning percentage .609). He ranks 47th in total wins. However, keep in mind that wins were seen more often if pitchers were in a four-man rotation instead of a five-man rotation. It started happening in the ’60s or ’70s, depending on who you ask. Let’s get back to integration. Based on wins since 1947, Sabathia is tied for 24th place with Bob Gibson. He is ahead of Hall of Famers like Juan Marichal, Whitey Ford, Catfish Hunter, Pedro Martinez, Don Drysdale, Roy Halladay and Sandy Koufax.
Sabathia’s 3,093 strikeouts rank 18th all-time. Do you know how many left-handed comrades there are before him? Two! Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton are the only left-handed pitchers with career strikeouts.
The innings pitched numbers are a bit skewed compared to the ridiculous totals recorded in the 1800s and early 1900s, but if you isolate the Wild Card era (1995-present), you get a good idea of Sabathia’s workhorse ability . Only 11 pitchers in this era have topped 3,000 innings (list here). Only six companies have more than 3,200. Only three people are in the top 3,400. Sabathia leads with 3,577⅓. We’re talking about a 30-year span in which Sabathia has been the workload leader.
Postseason/clutch performance
Sabathia pitched a total of 130 1/3 innings in the playoffs, posting a 10-7 record with a 4.28 ERA and 121 strikeouts. Sure, it’s worse than the regular season, but the competition is better because of the nature of it being postseason.
Plus, he had a lot of highs. What was it like when they brought him in on a monster contract in 2009 to propel the Yankees to another World Series title? As a starter in this year’s postseason, he had a record of 4 wins, 1 loss, an ERA of 1.98, and a WHIP of 1.02 for the Yankees. He was the ALCS MVP.
I also think his 2008 performance with the Brewers is worth mentioning, even though it wasn’t a playoff game. Milwaukee hadn’t made the playoffs since 1982. Sabathia was acquired on July 7 to help with a thin rotation. He started 17 of the 72 games, with three rest periods in between, supporting the team as they worked hard. To break the playoff drought. They did. He started in those 17 games and pitched 130 2/3 innings, posting a record of 11 wins, 2 losses, and an ERA of 1.65. He recorded seven complete games and three shutouts. This is one of the most notable cases of a pitcher leading a team in a generation. It’s as clutch as it comes. Despite only playing half a season in the National League, he finished fifth in Cy Young Award voting and sixth in MVP voting.
rate statistics
If there’s one thing that critics will latch on to here, it’s the ERA and WHIP. Sabathia finished his career with a 3.74 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. The thing is, these aren’t terrible numbers, especially considering Sabathia’s workload and longevity. His earned run average equates to a 116 ERA+. This means he was 16% better than average over his career, even though he pitched all of his innings in his later years.
Looking at Sabathia’s similarity score, we can see that the players he is statistically most similar to are Hall of Famers or near-Hall of Famers. Three of the top seven are Hall of Famers (Mike Mussina, Jack Morris, and Gibson), and the remaining two (Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke) will be inducted in the not-too-distant future. is. The other two are Andy Pettit and Bartolo Colon.
Switching to WAR and JAWS, Sabathia is just below average for current Hall of Famers. His WAR is 62.3, compared to the Hall of Fame average of 73. Still, he’s better than pitchers like Don Sutton, Early Wynn, Dougie Vance, Jim Bunning, White Ford, Three-Finger Brown, and Jim Kurt.
Additionally, I have already decided that given the way pitchers are used these days, I will push for lower standards for starting pitchers over the next few years. Considering everything I said above about Sabathia’s workload and peak, I’m willing to give him my vote despite his lack of WAR. That’s not a rule. It’s just one of many signposts along the way.
Sabathia’s case passes the test most of the time, so he’s a Hall of Famer to me.
