Sabathia cannot handle playoff pressure

[Silver Blaze]

True, pitching on short rest may have caught up with him, but this is the third lousy postseason start in the row. Some team is going to give him ridiculous money when he hasn't proved himself when it matters most.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Wasn't he great in his last start, a playoff-like game?

[SamtheBravesFan]

Oh, yeah, let's give him the Alex Rodriguez Choker Award after just his fifth postseason game. That's smart.

[hudsonharden]

Maybe a Mets fan isn't the best person to talk about who is and who isn't a choker.

[KevinWI]

Maybe a Mets fan isn't the best person to talk about who is and who isn't a choker.

Somebody call the fire department - the Mets fanbase just got BURNED.

[SamtheBravesFan]

I will say he hasn't pitched well in any of his playoff games, but does that necessarily make him a "choker"? I think a person who chokes is one who succumbs to the pressure of the situation. Is Sabathia really succumbing to the pressure of the situation? Do we know that for sure?

[psbaseballfan27]

Maybe a Mets fan isn't the best person to talk about who is and who isn't a choker.

Well at least we don't trade our team away every year. Now back to the topic on hand. A team is gonna spend 7 years and a lot of money on this guy. This guy did pitch great to help the Brewers to make the playoffs. However if he goes to lets say a yankees he's gonna have to do a lot better or its gonna be a long time for him there. I will say however he was playing in phily which is a joke of a park and your bound to give up a few runs there.

[Evangelion]

Maybe a Mets fan isn't the best person to talk about who is and who isn't a choker.

Harsh.

Anyway, Sabathia has pitched on three days a number of occasions since September began. He's a choker, because a offensive club like the Phillies hit him? That's fair. Brewers should have pushed him back to Game 3, but look at their situation, they had no choice.

[Mike90]

this question is retardiculous

[Berkman#17]

Wasn't he great in his last start, a playoff-like game?

It was against the Iowa Cubs, remember.

I'm not calling CC a "choker" just yet, but his playoff numbers are terrible.

[Westlake]

Well at least we don't trade our team away every year.

They've had a heck of a lot more success over the years than the Mets have.

[Evangelion]

It was against the Iowa Cubs, remember.

I'm not calling CC a "choker" just yet, but his playoff numbers are terrible.

http://milwaukee.brewers.mlb.com/new...=home&c_id=mil

What are you talking about? A majority of the Cub starters were in the lineup and remain in the lineup.

If you wanted to say the Brewers offense went up against minor league pitching, that's not entirely untrue, but to say the Cubs threw a minor league starting lineup out there on Sunday isn't true.

[psbaseballfan27]

They've had a heck of a lot more success over the years than the Mets have.

How many world titles have thr A's won recently? No wait how many times have they made the world series? In terms of getting to the playoff yes but they haven't won in the postseason under the current structure and now they end up trading their season away. (Rich Harden anyone?)

[NYMets523]

Maybe a Mets fan isn't the best person to talk about who is and who isn't a choker.

Actually we are because we are the most capable at identifying chokers.

Now, everyone quit bickering about the Mets and A's. It's irrelevant to the discussion.

The reason Sabathia sucks is simple. He's gassed. He threw 241 IP last year and 253 IP this year. He simply has nothing left in the tank by now. Thank Ned Yost for having him throw complete games when the team was up 6-8 runs.

[gman5431]

Playoff pressure is way overrated for someone who has been in the league as long as CC, i dont believe the fact that it was just the playoffs is why he had a bad game. The guy has been a beast, he had an off day against a good hitting team.

G Man

[Imgran]

This isn't one game. remember he did this last year too. It is enough to start giving a guy that certain reputation, if nothing else. There ARE some players who loom larger in the postseason than others.

[gman5431]

This isn't one game. remember he did this last year too. It is enough to start giving a guy that certain reputation, if nothing else. There ARE some players who loom larger in the postseason than others.

True to a certain extent. If this was to continue, say for 5 more years, then he would be seen as a choker. But i remember he won his start in the playoffs with Cleveland in 01 as a rookie and he still has only had 5 playoff starts. To me that a little bit of a small sample size to pass judgement already. Also, based on what this guy didnt down the stretch, i'm ready to give him somewhat of a break because without him the Brewers probably would have finished 4th in the WC.

G Rizzle

[hudsonharden]

Well at least we don't trade our team away every year. Now back to the topic on hand. A team is gonna spend 7 years and a lot of money on this guy. This guy did pitch great to help the Brewers to make the playoffs. However if he goes to lets say a yankees he's gonna have to do a lot better or its gonna be a long time for him there. I will say however he was playing in phily which is a joke of a park and your bound to give up a few runs there.

good point, sir, good point.

[Imgran]

True to a certain extent. If this was to continue, say for 5 more years, then he would be seen as a choker. But i remember he won his start in the playoffs with Cleveland in 01 as a rookie and he still has only had 5 playoff starts. To me that a little bit of a small sample size to pass judgement already. Also, based on what this guy didnt down the stretch, i'm ready to give him somewhat of a break because without him the Brewers probably would have finished 4th in the WC.

G Rizzle

A player would be lucky to have 5 shots at the postseason in his career.

Players have had their careers defined by less than being given 4 opportunities to pitch in the postseason and pitching poorly in every single one of them. That's what we're dealing with with Sabathia. Even his win against the Yankees in the '07 ALDS was underwhelming.

[ipitch]

"Of the 254 pitchers in MLB history to throw at least 25 innings in the postseason, his ERA (7.92) is the 2nd highest. Doyle Alexander (8.38)."
Yikes!

[SamtheBravesFan]

"Of the 254 pitchers in MLB history to throw at least 25 innings in the postseason, his ERA (7.92) is the 2nd highest. Doyle Alexander (8.38)."
Yikes!

Ironic. Alexandar was also one very important piece acquired via trade to getting a team into the playoffs (1987 Tigers), and he stunk in them too (0-2, 9 IP, 14 H, 10 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO).

[Westlake]

How many world titles have thr A's won recently? No wait how many times have they made the world series? In terms of getting to the playoff yes but they haven't won in the postseason under the current structure and now they end up trading their season away. (Rich Harden anyone?)

They've made the playoffs 5 times since 2000. And the last time they won a world series was more recent than the Mets. And yes, they've made the world series more times than the Mets as well.

Seriously, they've been more successful than the Mets, so I don't know what you're talking about. Fail.

Now, everyone quit bickering about the Mets and A's. It's irrelevant to the discussion.

The reason Sabathia sucks is simple. He's gassed. He threw 241 IP last year and 253 IP this year. He simply has nothing left in the tank by now. Thank Ned Yost for having him throw complete games when the team was up 6-8 runs.

I'll do as I please.

He's gassed. Really. He was dominant in his last start and NOW he's gassed? How do you know that? That's just a complete guess and it's probably wrong. Maybe he just didn't have it last game. Maybe the Phillies are a really good offensive team, or a combo of the both.

[NYMets523]

I'll do as I please.

Do it elsewhere.

He's gassed. Really. He was dominant in his last start and NOW he's gassed? How do you know that? That's just a complete guess and it's probably wrong. Maybe he just didn't have it last game. Maybe the Phillies are a really good offensive team, or a combo of the both.

And maybe he didn't have anything last game because he pitched in 3 games in 9 days and was gassed from that. It's entirely plausible.