CC struggles, Yanks lose opener 8-2

photo courtesy of NY Daily News

After losing over 100 home runs in the offseason, and having stars such as Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Alex Rodiriguez on the disabled list, pitching was supposed to be the strong suit for the Yankees this season.

That was not the case on Monday, as the Yankees fell on opening day to the Red Sox, 8-2 in front of 49,514 at Yankee stadium.

Yankees starter C.C. Sabathia had another poor outing on opening day, giving up 4 runs on 8 hits, and 4 walks in just 5 innings.

In 5 opening day starts for the Yanks, Sabathia has yet to come away victorious. He is 0-2 in his 5 starts, with a whopping 7.43 era.

Sabathia has started slow in the past, and usually doesn't reach his full potential until mid season, but his lack of velocity has some cause for concern. Sabathia, who had offseason surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow, failed to reach his average midseason velocity of 95 mph in Mondays start. His fastball ranged from 89.9 to 91.7 mph, and he relied heavily on his off-speed pitches as he threw 33 changeups compared to 35 fastballs.

C. C. didn't seem worried about his velocity, stating that his elbow and shoulder feel fine. He has been a workhorse since he entered the league with Cleveland, and has pitched four straight 200 plus inning seasons for the Yankees.

His age, 32 years old, and his 2,569 career innings, indicate that eventually his production will decline. Of course it's just one game, and being a notorious slow starter could have something to do with it, but the question is a valid one. Was Monday the start of that decline? We'll have to wait and see.