Much like everyone else in baseball, CC Sabathia is interested in seeing where Dallas Keuchel lands, now that there’s no draft-pick compensation attached to the left-handed free agent and it is likely Keuchel will have a new home soon.
“All I know is what I see on TV, but he’d help any team, I think,’’ Sabathia said the other day.
Asked if that included the Yankees, Sabathia said, “This is New York. We’re always trying to get better. If we do get him, that would be great. But if not, we have the arms in here.”
Whether general manager Brian Cashman agrees remains to be seen.
Sabathia gave the Yankees’ bruised rotation a boost Sunday night, when he pitched six efficient innings and struck out a season-high eight batters — albeit in a loss to Boston.
They’ll start Masahiro Tanaka when they open their next series in Toronto on Tuesday night and Tanaka has been searching for his split-fingered fastball for much of the early part of the season.
“I’m going through the process of trying to get it back,’’ Tanaka said through an interpreter. “This time around, since my last outing, I was able to find something. I’m looking at that as a positive.’’
But he acknowledged the fact that it’s been more than one or two starts since his signature pitch has eluded him, which doesn’t happen often.
“It definitely has been longer than usual since I’ve had a good one,’’ Tanaka said. “The bright side is, I was able to go six innings or more sometimes without having it. Once I get the split back, more good things can happen.”
Prior to his last outing, when Tanaka gave up four runs in the first inning in a loss to the Padres, he had a very effective four-start stretch during which he gave up just four runs in 25 ¹/₃ innings.
James Paxton is still pitching with discomfort in his left knee and is using a brace — although he was excellent in his return last week against San Diego, but with J.A. Happ struggling with consistency and Domingo German showing signs of fading, the Yankees’ starting pitching could no doubt use some help.
Luis Severino continues to play catch and will travel on the road for this trip. He said Sunday night his next step would be throwing on back-to-back days, but it’s clear his return remains considerably in the future.
That’s why the Yankees have been among the teams intrigued by Keuchel, who is 31 and was looking for a long-term deal when he hit free agency last offseason but never found a home.
Teams were scared off by his asking price and declining results, but Keuchel still pitched 204 innings for Houston last season and finished with a 3.74 ERA.
And he clearly has October pedigree, as he was part of Houston’s World Series-winning team in 2017 and has a postseason ERA of 3.31 in 51 ²/₃ innings.
The Yankees were among several teams to attend Keuchel’s simulated games last month in California.
But the potential addition of Keuchel wouldn’t necessarily fix the Yankees’ rotation issues.
Despite the fact he’s been built up to 100 pitches in simulated games, most evaluators believe teams would want Keuchel to work his way into a rotation, which could take another month.
And missing spring training has had an impact on other starting pitchers in recent years, most recently Gio Gonzalez.
Gonzalez, whom the Yankees brought in on a minor league deal in March before he opted out of his contract and ended up with Milwaukee, was placed on the injured list by the Brewers last week with a dead arm.
Last season, the Yankees traded for Lance Lynn, who also couldn’t find a home until after spring training began. The right-hander, who like Keuchel was 31, went on to have the worst season of his career and was mostly unimpressive in his time in The Bronx.
Aaron Boone has been riding the Yankees’ fearsome bullpen hard this year — to great success — but he knows the current pace of use is likely not sustainable and someone — perhaps like Keuchel — would help.
