CC Sabathia Enters Rehab, Will Miss MLB Playoffs
New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia is headed to rehab for alcohol dependency and is done for the year as the MLB playoffs are about to start.
The Houston Astros visit Yankee Stadium tomorrow night for the one-game Wild Card playoff game.
In that game, Dallas Keuchel of the Astros (20-8, with 15 of those victories, however, at Minute Maid Park in Houston) matches up with the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka (12-7).
Formerly the ace of the staff but who has fallen on some hard times in the last couple of years, Sabathia was not scheduled to pitch in the Wild Card game.. He would probably have started one game in the American League Division Series against Central Division winner Kansas City Royals (if the Yankees prevail over Houston in the single-elimination “game 7,” that is,) or possibly come out of the Bronx Bombers’ shaky bullpen.
In a statement released this afternoon, CC Sabathia, the winner of the AL Cy Young Award in 2007, explained what went into the decision to seek professional help.
“Today I am checking myself into an alcohol rehabilitation center to receive the professional care and assistance needed to treat my disease. I love baseball and I love my teammates like brothers, and I am also fully aware that I am leaving at a time when we should all be coming together for one last push toward the World Series. It hurts me deeply to do this now, but I owe it to myself and to my family to get myself right. I want to take control of my disease, and I want to be a better man, father and player…”
Sabathia’s record this season was 6-10, with a 4.73 ERA, “the worst record of his 14-year career for a season in which he pitched at least 150 innings,” ESPN explained.
He has one year left on his seven-year $161 million Yankees’ contract that will pay him $25 million for the 2016 campaign, with an option provision for 2017.
Sabathia added the following in his statement about checking himself into a rehab facility.
“I want to thank the New York Yankees organization for their encouragement and understanding. Their support gives me great strength and has allowed me to move forward with this decision with a clear mind. As difficult as this decision is to share publicly, I don’t want to run and hide. But for now please respect my family’s need for privacy as we work through this challenge together.”
Yankees management evidently learned of the CC Sabathia rehab plan for the first time during a conference call yesterday afternoon. Neither manager Joe Girardi nor GM Brian Cashman apparently had any idea that Sabathia was encountering substance abuse issues. Both officials expressed support for the lefty’s decision to seek treatment immediately.
“I think CC’s demonstrated a great deal of courage in trying to tackle this problem. Time and place have no bearing. There is something here that needs to be taken care of, and I applaud him for stepping up and doing everything necessary to solve this problem for himself as he moves forward,” Cashman said, according to the New York Post.
Back in August, the TMZ cameras caught CC Sabathia — who is listed at six-foot-seven and about 300 pounds — in an altercation with some hecklers outside a Toronto nightclub. He left the scene in a cab before the situation got out of hand, however.
About that particular Canadian encounter, Cashman noted that “I can’t honestly tell you if alcohol was or wasn’t involved in that incident.”
Do you think CC Sabathia’s stint in rehab for an apparent drinking problem will have a significant impact on the New York Yankees’ MLB post-season viability?
[Photos by Rich Schultz, Al Bello, Brian Blanco/Getty Images Sport]
