Big League Stew - MLB

Big League Stew

Sat Oct 31, 2009 6:18 pm EDT

No rest for the $160 million man: Sabathia to start Game 4

By 'Duk

PHILADELPHIA — No matter what happens in tonight's Game 3, the Yankees have a definite plan for Game 4 of the World Series. CC Sabathia(notes) will get the start on Sunday night and New York manager Joe Girardi said that it's "a possibility" A.J. Burnett(notes) and Andy Pettitte(notes) could go on short rest for Games 5 and 6. The move keeps Chad Gaudin(notes) as the Yankees' long-relief specialist and out of the fourth spot in the team's rotation.

As I headed to the park today, I thought the Yankees would wait until after the game to make the announcement. If New York won Game 3, it seemed that it would make more sense to keep Sabathia on his regular rest and let Gaudin take his chances against Joe Blanton(notes) in Game 4.

But the more I think about it, the more I like the move, even if Sabathia struggled against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in last season's NLDS with Milwaukee. The Phillies are starting the untouchable Cliff Lee(notes) in Game 5 and it doesn't make sense to burn CC against his former teammate when he could be moved up a day to give the Yankees the biggest starting advantage of the series. Regardless of whether they win Game 3, Girardi and the Yankees should go for the wins they can get them. I'm still not sold on the idea of Burnett and Pettitte on short rest, but I suppose the Yanks will cross that bridge when they get to it.

Related: Joe Blanton, Chad Gaudin, Cliff Lee, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, 2009 postseason on the Stew, 2009 World Series on the Stew

digg delicious
more

11 Comments

Post a Comment
  1. chris B
    1. Posted by chris B Sat Oct 31, 2009 6:56 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    pitch him. he has time to rest after
  2. Jay
    2. Posted by Jay Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:19 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    the earlier, the better! with CC pitching the way he has this postseason, and facing a favorable matchup against Blanton, the Yankees could go up 3-1 against the phillies. LETS GO YANKS!
  3. david b
    3. Posted by david b Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:22 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    When you're talking short rest, you're talking the very modern idea of short rest. And even then it's what, one day less than usual? Pitchers used to throw their arm off for a team and make 50 starts a year 'Duk, and now you're making a big deal about 1 less day when the world series is at stake? This is what you write about when you're not writing about Josh Hamilton having a beer? You are the worst journalist outside of TMZ, and maybe even worse than that.
  4. david b
    4. Posted by david b Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:30 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    And wow, you're on the way to the big game? Hopefully not in any professional capacity, unless you have a second job selling hot dogs. Make sure you get the juicy gossip and expose any struggling addicts or people with problems if they do something that may be disagreeable to a small portion of the public! Your Pulitzer is right around the corner!
  5. Coach Isiah Thompson
    5. Posted by Coach Isiah Thompson Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:50 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Easy peasy, CC suicide squeezy!
  6. David
    6. Posted by David Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:22 pm EDT

    Report Abuse

    Why is it That NFL can play in the rain,snow,sleet &hail. But Baseball fans can pay 50-200 plus dollars for a ticket and the players are getting paid millions plus dollars to play but don't because of rain (LOL) but the fans are still waiting to see their so called baseball stars? I'll stick to NFL, at least they are not afraid to get their uniforms dirty and give THEIR fans a game. I'm not afraid to give out my email either, just like NFL is not afrid to play their games no matter what the whether is. mashtare.david@yahoo.com
  7. JohnD
    7. Posted by JohnD Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:19 am EST

    Report Abuse

    what you need a hole year of rest to pitch one game
  8. Hitman
    8. Posted by Hitman Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:01 am EST

    Report Abuse

    Hard to get that much fat moving without proper rest.
  9. redcr56
    9. Posted by redcr56 Sun Nov 01, 2009 1:44 pm EST

    Report Abuse

    David,
    The reason baseball players cannot play in the rain is not because of their jerseys getting dirty. Baseball players regularly have to deal with a ball going 90+mph WHETHER (notice the correct use of the spelling) it be fielding or batting, and the ball gets significantly less hard to see when its raining (the reason the spitball is illegal is because it made it hard for batters to see and someone died getting hit in the face with it). Don't compare it to football when the worst they have to deal with is a padded player coming at them at a max 20mph. As long as your sticking to NFL please stick to only commenting on NFL articles.
  10. richard nixon
    10. Posted by richard nixon Sun Nov 01, 2009 4:05 pm EST

    Report Abuse

    get out dare, cc, and moida dose clowns!
  11. DIYer
    11. Posted by DIYer Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:51 pm EST

    Report Abuse

    Sabathia sucks. Get a refund Steinbrenner

Big League Stew

Add to My Yahoo! RSS

'Duk

Big League Stew is an MLB blog edited by Kevin Kaduk. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Contributors:
David Brown, Alex Remington, Steve Henson, Curtis Granderson, Jay Levin,

Teams

Customize to follow news and rumors on your favorite teams. [ Sign in ]

Related Photo Gallery

More MLB Photos »

Y! Sports Blogs

Big League Stew Recent Readers

(provided by MyBlogLog)