Back in March of 2014, coming off a season in which CC Sabathia‘s fastball velocity dropped to 92.26 mph from 95.17 mph from when he first joined the New York Yankees, he turned to Andy Pettitte for assistance.
Pettitte, who survived as a pitcher dealing diminishing velocity with flying colors, hoped to do the same for his former teammate. Sabathia has steadily developed a cutter to help his continuing shift from power pitcher to finesse pitcher. As of 2016, the impact it has had on the 36-year-old is undoubtedly positive.
Last season, Sabathia virtually replaced his four-seam fastball with a cut fastball, as his use of the four-seamer dropped from 28.