Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
The 2013 fantasy baseball season was an utter disaster for New York Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia. The veteran recorded a miserable 4.78 ERA, which was by far the worst of his tenured career. He also finished with an unthinkable 1.37 WHIP and surrendered more runs (122) than any other pitcher in fantasy.
Sabathia was drafted as a top-20 pitcher in every format last spring, but the fireballer found himself on the bench by the time the fantasy playoffs rolled around. He was simply too risky to start down the stretch and the uncertainty surrounding him will cause his fantasy value to plummet in drafts this spring.
Sabathia is 33 years old and will be entering his 13th season. However, the super-veteran could still have value in deeper fantasy formats this year.
For starters, the big southpaw still threw over 200 innings. He has now gone over 200 innings in seven consecutive seasons and has become one of the only workhorses left in baseball. Sabathia will be a threat to throw nine innings each time he steps onto the mound and that alone has to be worth something.
Sabathia has also lost around 10-15 pounds this off-season. He seems to be in much better shape and Sabathia’s lighter frame should help him stay in better shape in the final months of the season. Sabathia was awful last year during the fall months and the extra conditioning should do wonders for his late-season value.
Sabathia is too talented to not rebound this spring. He won’t be a top-15 fantasy pitcher anymore, but he can be worth a spot as a fourth starter.
Adam McGill is the Senior Fantasy Sports Writer at Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @adammcgill83, like him on Facebook, or add him to you networks on Google here or here.
