In his first few years with the Yankees, when his fastball hummed as reliably as it did on Thursday against the Boston Red Sox, C. C. Sabathia made pitching sound so easy. All he did, he would say after starts, was pound the zone.
The craft was surely more complicated, but that was shorthand for a power pitcher in his prime: Go right after the hitters because you are so much better than they are. Chances are they will not hurt you.
Age and knee problems have eroded Sabathia’s sense of invincibility.