CC Sabathia Costs Himself $500,000 Bonus with Ejection vs. Rays

When New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia hit Tampa Bay Rays catcher Jesus Sucre with the first pitch of the sixth inning in Wednesday's game, it could prove to be the costliest pitch of his career.

The plunking came after New York catcher Andrew Kittredge had a pitch come up and in on him in the top of the inning. Given Sucre was hit in an act of retaliation, Sabathia was tossed from the game...two innings shy from triggering a $500,000 performance bonus for the season, according to The Athletic's Marc Carig.

Entering the game, the southpaw was at 148.0 innings this season, meaning he needed seven innings to trigger the bonus. It appeared as though as he was well on his way to doing so on Wednesday, as he needed just 54 pitches to get through five innings, allowing just one hit on the day.

However, Sabathia prioritized defending a teammate—who just happened to be his batterymate—over his finances. That's the type of selfless act that could make the veteran pitcher a popular person in the clubhouse.

As Carig noted, the six-time All-Star has always been a respected teammate:

Defending a teammate in an 11-0 blowout while throwing a gem with a half-million dollars on the line is the definition of a power move.

Sabathia noted afterward that the bonus wasn't high on his priority list, via Carig: "I don’t really make decisions based on money."

Sure, it's possible the Yankees could still opt to give Sabathia the $500,000 bonus or even have him pitch two innings over the final three games. But in all likelihood, this was the left-hander's final appearance of the regular season (and quite possibly of his career).

Sabathia has, of course, made plenty of money in his career. Not only is he earning $10 million this season, but the 38-year-old has also piled up more than $256 million in career earnings over the past 18 years, per Spotrac.

But $500,000 is still $500,000.

Sabathia entered Wednesday 8-7 on the season with a 3.77 ERA and 135 strikeouts. While those numbers may not be as dominant as they once were for the former Cy Young Award winner, he has been a key member of the Yankees rotation this season.