Draft and minors The
Cleveland Indians selected Sabathia in the first round, with the 20th overall selection, of the
1998 MLB draft. He signed for a $1.3 million
signing bonus and pitched in the Indians' minor league system for three seasons. In 2000, Sabathia was selected for the 28-man United States
Olympic Team roster. He appeared in one pre-Olympic tournament game in
Sydney,
Australia, but was not on the official 24-man,
Gold Medal-winning roster because he was called up by the Cleveland Indians. He was named the Indians' 2000 Minor League Player of the Year (receiving the "
Lou Boudreau Award").
Cleveland Indians (2001–2008) In 2001, at age 20, Sabathia began his rookie season as the youngest player in the Major Leagues. He made his major league debut on April 8, 2001 against the
Baltimore Orioles, allowing three earned runs on three hits while walking two and striking out three in innings. Sabathia would take a no-decision in Cleveland's 4–3 win. He ended the season with a 17–5 record and a 4.39 ERA in 33 starts, finishing second in the
AL voting for
Rookie of the Year behind future
Yankees teammate
Ichiro Suzuki. Sabathia also made his first postseason appearance in 2001, pitching Game 3 of the
2001 American League Division Series against the
Seattle Mariners. He earned the win, pitching six innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out five in a 17–2 rout. At 21 years, 85 days of age, Sabathia became the second-youngest pitcher to win a Division Series game, after
Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. On February 23, 2002, Sabathia signed a four-year, $9.5 million contract with the Indians that contained a club option for 2006. For the 2002 season, he finished 13–11 with a 4.37 ERA in 33 starts. In 2003, Sabathia was 13–9 in 30 starts, and had the tenth-best ERA in the AL (3.60). He was also named to the
American League All-Star team for the first time. Sabathia made his second All-Star selection in a row as he finished the 2004 season by going 11–10 with a 4.12 ERA in 30 starts, striking out 139 batters in 188 innings. In 2005, Sabathia posted a 15–10 record with a 4.03 ERA in 31 starts. He threw the fastest fastball in the AL in 2005, averaging 94.7 miles per hour. In 2006, Sabathia made 28 starts, going 12–11 with a 3.22 ERA. He collected his 1,000th career strikeout on May 21, 2007, fanning the player who beat him out for Rookie of the Year honors:
Ichiro Suzuki of the
Seattle Mariners. His pitching performance led Cleveland to its first
American League Central Division Championship since 2001, his rookie season. For his performance, he won the 2007 American League
Cy Young Award, joining
Gaylord Perry as one of only two Cleveland Indians pitchers to ever win it. (
Cliff Lee,
Corey Kluber, and
Shane Bieber have since also won, with Kluber winning twice.) Sabathia also won the
Warren Spahn Award given to the best left-handed
pitcher in the Majors. Despite his strong regular season, Sabathia did not perform well against the
Boston Red Sox in the
American League Championship Series. In two starts, he went 0–2 with a 10.45 ERA. Sabathia began the 2008 season 6–8 with a 3.83 ERA in 18 starts. On July 30, 2008, Sabathia took out a large $12,870 ad in the sports section of Cleveland's daily newspaper,
The Plain Dealer. The ad, signed by Sabathia, his wife Amber, and his family read: Sabathia finished his tenure with the Indians with 106 wins against 71 losses in 237 starts, a 3.83 ERA and 1.265 WHIP, and 1,265 strikeouts in innings. In October, future All-Star
Michael Brantley was added as the final piece of the trade; unusually, under the trade provisions the Indians were able to select the player themselves because the Brewers went on to make the playoffs. Sabathia recalled in
Till The End, his 2021 memoir, that an unexpected positive of the trade was being put on a roster with multiple other Black athletes. "To be Black in America is to constantly be on guard ... With the Brewers, for the first time in my baseball life, I could be more at ease." On September 28, 2008, Sabathia pitched a complete-game four-hitter against the Cubs in the final game of the regular season; the Brewers won, 3–1, and clinching the wild card when the
New York Mets lost later that evening. The team's 2008 postseason appearance was its first since 1982. Sabathia started Game 2 of the
2008 NLDS against the
Philadelphia Phillies; it was his fourth consecutive start in which he pitched on three days' rest. Sabathia surrendered five runs in 3 innings, walking pitcher
Brett Myers and giving up a grand slam to
Shane Victorino. The Phillies would go on to win the
World Series. Teammate
Mike Cameron later opined that Sabathia had taken on so much work that season that he "had nothing left" for the playoff game. and struck out 251 batters in a major-league leading 253 innings, posting 10 complete games (five shutouts). Sabathia was sixth in the voting for the 2008 NL MVP award. Sabathia was particularly dominant during his tenure with Milwaukee, going 11–2 across 17 starts with a 1.65 ERA and a 1.003 WHIP, striking out 128 batters against just 25 walks in innings, and throwing seven complete games (three shutouts). A 2025 ESPN retrospective cited Sabathia's performance and its impact on the Brewers' franchise in ranking him the best trade deadline acquisition of all time.
New York Yankees (2009–2019) 2009: Major league wins leader, ALCS MVP, World Series champion On December 18, 2008, Sabathia signed a seven-year, $161 million contract with the
New York Yankees. It was the largest contract for a pitcher in MLB history at the time. On March 26, 2009, manager
Joe Girardi announced that Sabathia would be the Opening Day starter and the starter for the home opener at the new
Yankee Stadium. Sabathia finished the season 19–8 with a 3.37 ERA (the fourth-best in the American League) and 1.15 WHIP across 34 starts. He struck out 197 batters in 230 innings against 67 walks, gave up 197 hits and just 18 home runs, held opponents to a .232 batting average, and threw two complete games (one shutout). His 19 wins were tied for the most in the major leagues that year alongside
Félix Hernández,
Justin Verlander, and
Adam Wainwright. He was also awarded the
August 2009 AL Pitcher of the Month Award, posting a 5–0 record in six starts with a 2.64 ERA and 49 strikeouts in innings. Sabathia was particularly dominant after the All-Star break, going 11–2 in 15 starts, striking out 102 batters in innings and posting a 2.74 ERA. The Yankees finished the regular season with a 103–59 record, the best in the Major Leagues. Sabathia also won the
American League Championship Series (ALCS) Most Valuable Player Award; in two starts against the
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, he went 2–0 with a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings, throwing eight innings of one-run ball in both of his starts. The Yankees beat the Angels in six games to advance to their first World Series since 2003. during the
2009 World Series victory parade Despite failing to pick up a win in either of his World Series starts, Sabathia was effective, posting a 3.29 ERA in innings to help lead the Yankees to a series win over the defending champion
Philadelphia Phillies in six games. their first since 2000, and the first of Sabathia's career. In five postseason starts, Sabathia went 3–1 with a 1.98 ERA in innings.
2010–2012: Continued dominance On July 4, 2010, Sabathia earned his fourth All-Star selection, and his first as a Yankee. At the time of the All-Star break, Sabathia was 12–3 with a 3.09 ERA in 131 innings (19 starts). On August 22, Sabathia recorded his 16th consecutive start of at least six innings allowing three earned runs or less, breaking a tie with
Ron Guidry (from his Cy Young Award-winning
1978 season) for the longest streak in franchise history. His streak was snapped in his next start on August 28, where he allowed five earned runs in seven innings to the
Chicago White Sox. The 2010 season was the first in Sabathia's career in which he won 20 games. He ended the season with 21 wins, the most in the major leagues, against just 7 losses. In innings pitched, Sabathia posted a 3.18 ERA and 1.19 WHIP, gave up 209 hits, struck out 197 batters against 74 walks, threw two complete games, and held opponents to a .239 batting average. 26 of his 34 starts were quality starts, a career-high. The Yankees won the AL Wild Card after finishing second in the AL East to the
Tampa Bay Rays with a 95–67 record. Despite posting a 2–0 record in three playoff starts that year, Sabathia posted a 5.63 ERA across 16 innings as the Yankees were defeated in the
ALCS by the
Texas Rangers in six games. He finished third in the AL Cy Young Award voting behind
Félix Hernández and
David Price, as well as 13th in the MVP voting. He lost weight in an effort to prevent future problems with his knee. In 2011, Sabathia was the Opening Day starter for the Yankees for the third year in a row. Sabathia was named to his fifth career All-Star Game, replacing
James Shields on the roster; however, he elected to pitch the Sunday before the All-Star Game and his spot on the active roster was given to
Alexi Ogando. In his final start before the All-Star break, Sabathia threw a complete game, four-hit shutout against the Rays at Yankees Stadium, his first at home since he joined the Yankees. He struck out nine and walked one, outdueling Shields as the Yankees beat the Rays 1–0. He became the first Yankee pitcher to have 13 wins by the All-Star break since
Andy Pettitte in 1996, and his 2.72 ERA was the lowest ERA by a Yankee starter in the first half of the season since
David Cone in 1999. On July 26, 2011, Sabathia took a
perfect game through innings against the
Seattle Mariners, retiring the first 19 batters he faced in a game interrupted twice due to rain. He ended up
striking out 14 batters through seven innings (setting a career high), and pitching a combined one-hitter. For his performance in July 2011 (a 4–1 record in five starts with a 0.92 ERA, just one home run allowed, 50 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched, and a .140 batting average against), Sabathia was named the
AL Pitcher of the Month, his fifth career Pitcher of the Month award and second with the Yankees. Sabathia recorded his 2,000th career strikeout on September 10, 2011, against
Torii Hunter of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a 6–0 Yankees loss. Across 33 starts in 2011, Sabathia had a 19–8 record, a 3.00 ERA, and a 1.23 WHIP. Across innings, he struck out 230 batters against 61 walks (good for 8.72 K/9 and 3.72 K/BB ratios), held batters to a .255 batting average, threw three complete games (one shutout), posted 22 quality starts, and gave up just 17 home runs for a career-low rate of 0.64 home runs per nine innings. Though his contract with the Yankees allowed him to opt out and become a free agent after the 2011 season, Sabathia said he had no intention of opting out of his contract. On October 31, 2011, Sabathia announced that he had signed a contract extension with the Yankees. The contract extension added one season (2016) to Sabathia's contract and called for him to be paid $25 million that season. In addition, the extension provided for a vesting option in which Sabathia would be paid $25 million for the 2017 season unless the Yankees exercised a $5 million buyout due to issues with Sabathia's left shoulder. Sabathia began the 2012 season poorly, allowing a
grand slam by
Carlos Peña in his first inning of work on Opening Day against the
Tampa Bay Rays. He recovered, however, going 9–3 with a 3.45 ERA in his first 15 starts before the All-Star break. He threw a
complete game against the
Atlanta Braves on June 18, allowing two runs and one walk while striking out ten. It was Sabathia's 34th career complete game and eighth as a Yankee. Sabathia was named an All-Star for the third season in a row and sixth time in his career; however, he was unable to participate as he was placed on the disabled list on June 27 with a strained adductor muscle. Sabathia was placed on the disabled list again on August 11 with soreness in his left elbow, but returned on August 24 against the
Cleveland Indians, tossing strong innings in a 3–1 win. He finished the year strongly after returning from injury, post a 2.93 ERA across his final eight starts (despite an average record of 3–3), striking out 57 in innings against nine walks and limiting opponents to a batting average of .215. Despite only making 28 starts in the 2012 season, Sabathia reached the 200+ innings pitched tier for the sixth consecutive year (and seventh overall). Alongside a 15–6 record with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP, Sabathia gave up 184 hits in exactly 200 innings, struck out 197 batters against just 44 walks (his 4.48 strikeout-to-walk ratio was the best among all American League starters and his 1.98 BB/9 rate was his lowest since his Cy Young-winning season in 2007), threw two complete games, and held batters to a .238 average. However, Sabathia lost Game 4 of the
2012 ALCS (pitching on an extra day's rest), allowing six runs (five earned) in innings to the
Detroit Tigers, as the Yankees, who had already lost
Derek Jeter for the rest of the postseason in Game 1 due to a fractured ankle, were swept in four games. Despite dealing with the bone spur, Sabathia's overall record in his first four years with Yankees were stellar, posting a 74–29 record with a 3.22 ERA and 1.18 WHIP, throwing 905 innings over 129 starts (88 of which were quality), nine complete games, striking out 821 batters against 246 walks, and giving up just 820 hits and 77 home runs (thereby equating to a seasonal average of 32 starts (22 quality), 18 wins, 226 innings pitched, allowing 205 hits and 62 walks, notching 205 strikeouts, giving up 19 home runs, and posting rates of 0.77 HR/9, 2.45 BB/9, 8.16 K/9, 3.34 K/BB and a .241 opponent batting average).
2013–2015: Seasons of struggle On April 1, 2013, Sabathia made his eighth consecutive Opening Day start (and fifth for the Yankees), allowing four earned runs in five innings in an 8–2 loss to the Boston Red Sox. On July 3, Sabathia collected his 200th career win against the Minnesota Twins. His season ended early due to a strained
hamstring. He finished with a 14–13 record and a then-career-worst 4.78 ERA in 211 innings across 32 starts. Sabathia lost in 2013 and arrived at spring training in 2014 weighing . He admitted to
crash dieting after a cousin of his died of
heart disease in December 2012. His season was plagued by right knee difficulties. On July 16, it was announced that his season had ended. In only eight starts, Sabathia went 3–4 with a 5.28 ERA. In 2015, Sabathia reported to spring training weighing , as he believed his decreased weight had contributed to his poor and injury-shortened 2014 season. During a game against the Angels on June 7, 2015, Sabathia recorded his 2,500th career strikeout, becoming the 31st pitcher in MLB history to reach that milestone. Sabathia went on the disabled list on August 23, 2015, with right knee soreness. He had a 4–9 record with a 5.27 ERA in 24 games started to that point. He returned to the Yankees on September 9 wearing a
knee brace. He pitched to a 2.17 ERA in five starts after returning, including winning the game that clinched the Yankees a playoff berth in the
2015 American League Wild Card Game. However, he missed that game after checking himself into an alcohol rehabilitation facility; the Yankees would go on to lose to the
Houston Astros.
2016–2019: Late-career resurgence The 2016 season was a season of improvement for Sabathia. On April 9, 2016, Sabathia picked up the win in his season debut after limiting the
Detroit Tigers to three earned runs in six innings. On May 6, Sabathia was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left groin strain. On May 20, Sabathia recorded his 100th win as a Yankee in an 8–3 victory over the
Oakland Athletics, going six innings, allowing one run and striking out eight. Making 30 starts in 2016, Sabathia finished 9–12 with a 3.91 ERA in innings (16 quality starts) with 152 strikeouts and a 1.32
WHIP. On October 11, Sabathia underwent a routine surgery on his right knee. The Yankees did not appear in the 2016 postseason. Sabathia experienced a career renaissance in 2017, transitioning successfully from being a pitcher who relied on power and velocity to one who relied on command and pinpoint control. On June 13, Sabathia injured his left hamstring; he was placed on the disabled list two days later. He returned on July 4, starting against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. On August 1, Sabathia made his 500th
career start in a losing effort against the
Detroit Tigers. On August 8, he was taken out of a game after the third inning after experiencing pain in his surgically repaired right knee; he later landed on the 10-day disabled list. After returning from the disabled list on August 19, he went 5–0 over his last eight starts as he helped the Yankees clinch a wild card spot. Sabathia finished the 2017 season 14–5 with a 3.69 ERA, 120 strikeouts and a 1.27 WHIP in innings (27 starts). Sabathia started Game 3 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros, earning the win after throwing six shutout innings and allowing only three hits. Sabathia also started Game 7 of the ALCS; he took the loss as the Astros defeated the Yankees, 4–0, to win the series in seven games. The Astros went on to win the 2017 World Series. On December 26, 2017, Sabathia re-signed with the Yankees on a one-year contract for $10 million for the 2018 season. On June 12, 2018, Sabathia recorded his 1,500th strikeout as a Yankee in a 3–0 win over the
Washington Nationals, joining
Andy Pettitte,
Whitey Ford,
Ron Guidry and
Red Ruffing on the list of pitchers with 1,500 strikeouts as Yankees. On August 13, Sabathia went back on the disabled list due to right knee inflammation. Sabathia was ejected on September 27, 2018, for intentionally hitting Rays catcher
Jesús Sucre with a pitch; the Rays'
Andrew Kittredge had previously thrown at Yankee
Austin Romine's head in retaliation for Sabathia having hit the Rays'
Jake Bauers on the arm earlier in the game. Sabathia received a five-game suspension for throwing at Sucre, to be served in 2019. He was set to receive a $500,000 bonus for pitching 155 innings, but finished 2 innings short because of the ejection; the Yankees paid the bonus out nevertheless. Sabathia ended the season with a 9–7 record and a 3.65 ERA in 29 starts. The Yankees defeated the Oakland Athletics in the
2018 American League Wild Card Game to advance to the
2018 American League Division Series against the rival Boston Red Sox. Sabathia started Game 4 of the ALDS and took the loss, giving up three runs in three innings. The Red Sox won the game, 4–3, to defeat the Yankees three games to one. The Red Sox went on to win the
2018 World Series. On November 7, 2018, Sabathia re-signed with the Yankees on a one-year contract for $8 million. Sabathia was cleared to begin working out in January 2019 following a December 2018 procedure to insert a stent into his heart. On February 16, 2019, he announced that 2019 would be his final season.
2019: Final season Sabathia began the 2019 season on the 10-day injured list as he continued to recover from heart surgery. He made his first start of the season on April 13, pitching five innings of one-hit baseball in a 4–0 victory over the Chicago White Sox. On April 30, 2019, he recorded his 3,000th strikeout against
John Ryan Murphy of the
Arizona Diamondbacks, becoming only the third left-handed pitcher to record 3,000 strikeouts. Sabathia was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 23 due to right knee inflammation. He received a cortisone shot to treat the pain, and was informed that he would need knee replacement surgery after his baseball career ended. On June 19, he recorded his 250th career win in a 12–1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Sabathia pitched six innings, struck out seven, and surrendered one run. Sabathia accepted an invitation to appear in the
2019 MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland to throw the
ceremonial first pitch; during the game, he made a mound visit to Yankees closer
Aroldis Chapman. On July 28, Sabathia again went on the 10-day injured list due to the same knee injury. On August 31, Sabathia was placed on the 10-day injured list for the third time in 2019. On September 18, he made his last Yankee Stadium regular-season pitching appearance, receiving a standing ovation from the home crowd. He finished the season with a 5–8 record and a 4.95 ERA in 23 games (22 starts). However, he was later activated on the Yankees' roster for the
2019 American League Championship Series against the
Houston Astros, as a reliever. Sabathia pitched in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. He threw 20 pitches, retired two batters with a line-out, hit batsman, and flyout, but after taking
George Springer to a 2-1 count, he could not finish the inning due to discomfort and, after a warm-up pitch, walked off the mound. The Yankees removed Sabathia from their roster the next day with a
subluxated left shoulder, and replaced him with
Ben Heller. This move rendered Sabathia ineligible to pitch in the World Series had the Yankees advanced. Sabathia told the media that his exit from the game in his announced final season was "kind of fitting. I threw until I couldn't anymore." Sabathia finished his eleven-year tenure with the Yankees with a 134–88 record (a .604 winning percentage) in 307 games (306 starts), a 3.81 ERA and 1.272 WHIP, and 1,700 strikeouts in 1,918 innings pitched. ==Post-playing career==