CC Sabathia, the Hall of Famer, has expressed his thoughts on who he predicts will start for the New York Yankees when they face the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series. Although the decision is not his to make, Sabathia shared his insight after the Yankees ousted the Boston Red Sox in the AL wild-card series.
During a discussion on the Peacock studio show on September 30, Sabathia was asked by host Ahmed Fareed if Gerrit Cole would begin against the Rays in Tampa Bay on the upcoming Saturday. Sabathia confirmed, adding that Carlos Rodon would follow. He noted that this sets the Yankees up with two strong starting pitchers for the first two games.
Sabathia enjoyed a successful career as a Yankee and now serves as a studio analyst with NBC Sports. He pitched in 18 postseason games for the Yankees between 2009 and 2019, achieving an 8-4 record with a 3.42 ERA. He admitted that even he did not expect the Yankees’ pitching staff to dominate against the Red Sox as they have.
“Yeah, and then (Carlos) Rodon after that,” Sabathia continued. “Now they’re set up with two other aces to start the first two games.”
The Yankees’ historic 26 scoreless innings against Boston, which extends back to the previous year, marks their longest streak of consecutive scoreless innings against a single opponent in postseason history. Despite this streak ending as the Yankees defeated Boston 9-2 on Wednesday, the Red Sox did not manage to stop the Yankees’ advance to face Tampa Bay.
In the two wild-card games against the Red Sox, pitchers Cam Schlittler and Max Fried allowed just one run over 12.1 innings. Both pitchers will have ample rest to potentially start Game 3 on October 7, with manager Aaron Boone determining the pitching lineup.
Gerrit Cole is widely expected to start in Game 1. Having returned from Tommy John surgery, Cole went 10-9 with a 3.61 ERA across 22 regular-season starts. In 2024, he helped the Yankees reach the World Series by pitching five postseason games with a 2.17 ERA. His next playoff appearance will be his first since the 2024 World Series Game 5, a game in which the Yankees fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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