TAMPA — Yes, the Young Yankees appear to be on the rise, but this team is going to need its old guy to come through if there is going to be pitching success for this fragile rotation.
In his walk year, CC Sabathia is expecting good things from himself and his team. So much so he hopes to be back pitching for the Yankees in 2018.
“I would love to come back,’’ Sabathia told The Post on Monday as he prepared for his first start of spring Tuesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “I want to be around to play next year. Being a Yankee, being in pinstripes is always special, so I will always cherish my time here. It’s been good on both sides. I’ve really enjoyed my time and hopefully the people enjoy me being here so let’s just wait and see what happens after this year.’’
Sabathia, 36, likes what he sees in the Yankees’ young talent and even took it up a notch, saying: “We’ve got some young superstars in here that are just waiting to break out.’’
Gary Sanchez is at the top of the list. Sabathia said he loves what he sees in Greg Bird, Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres, too.
“I think we got a chance to be really good,’’ Sabathia said.
Sabathia stands 60 feet, six inches from Sanchez, so no one has a better look at his talent.
“Sanchez wants to be great,’’ Sabathia said. “He does a good job of taking control of the game even with older pitchers, which is good.’’
How is this for consistency? In his first eight years in the majors with the Indians, Sabathia was 106-71 with a 3.83 ERA. In his last eight years with the Yankees, he is a much different pitcher, but his Yankees’ record is 106-68 with a 3.75 ERA.
He is healthier than he has been in years, after having arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in October.
“It feels good to be healthy,’’ Sabathia said, who is a pitching mentor.
“I cherish taking on that role. A lot of guys helped me to get where I’m at. I’m looking forward to trying to help these guys get where they want to be in their career.’’
Sabathia rattled off the names of the generation of veterans who helped him, the likes of Matt Lawton, Ellis Burks, Dave Burba, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel and Robby Alomar.
Later in the day, I traveled to Bradenton, Fla., to talk to Bryan Mitchell after his start in the Yankees’ 13-1 loss to the Pirates and ask him what Sabathia means to the young Yankees pitchers.
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“CC knows the right way to go about things,’’ Mitchell said. “For instance, on Sunday, [Masahiro] Tanaka had just gone out to start throwing [before his start] and me and CC were sitting there and he said, ‘Hey, let’s go watch Tanaka’s bullpen before the game.’ That’s a great example right there. He’s been around the game a long time. He knows how to do his job, he knows the right way to go about things. If we mirror him, watch him, follow him, we’ll be in a good spot.’’
The biggest change Sabathia has made is that he does not rely on his fastball as he used to do when the lefty was a hard thrower. It’s a new repertoire for Sabathia.
“My changeup works well, my slider uses both sides of the plate. I’ve got some new weapons,’’ Sabathia said. “It’s a lot of fun to do this — to think through games, to sit down with the catcher, [pitching coach] Larry [Rothschild] and put together a plan that I can execute.’’
He looks back on his eight years in pinstripes and smiles.
“It’s been amazing,’’ he said. “Being in the city, being around the community, it’s been all love.’’
There have been some difficult times, like when Sabathia had to enter alcohol rehab in October 2015, but he noted, “It’s really been good. The way it went down, being so public, I think it helped me.’’
Sabathia competes and New York fans appreciate that. He needs to compete big-time this season.