MLB PLAYER NEWS

Yankees’ Sabathia may miss rest of season

The Sports Xchange

August 25, 2015 at 4:16 am.

NEW YORK — Has CC Sabathia thrown his last pitch of 2015 for the New York Yankees?

New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia will likley be out for the rest of the season.  (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia will likley be out for the rest of the season. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

While the Yankees have not publicly stated Sabathia will be out for the season, it’s a possibility they may be facing for the final six weeks of the regular season and potentially the postseason.

Sabathia was officially placed on the disabled list before Monday’s 1-0 win over the Houston Astros and manager Joe Girardi conceded his uncertainty of seeing Sabathia throw another pitch.

Sabathia had knee surgery July 23, 2014 after not pitching after mid-May. He had the knee drained twice in early-July and an MRI Sunday after exiting with two outs in the third inning.

On Tuesday, Sabathia will get a second opinion.

“It’s been maintenance all year long for us,” Girardi said. “We knew that going in, and we knew it could rear its ugly head. There were times where he had some shots before and was able to pitch and it didn’t seem to be an issue. But we knew it would take a lot to get him through the season and yesterday was the first day that we had to pull him out.”

Sunday was Sabathia’s 24th start and the Yankees were even unsure he would make that many before the season.

“I didn’t necessarily think that we’d get to 24 starts before we had to pull him out of a game,” Girardi said. “I wasn’t sure of that going into spring training. I felt like we were pretty lucky up until yesterday.”

All year it has been a delicate balance for Sabathia between protecting his knee and being able to pitch effectively. In his last few starts before Sunday, Sabathia was letting it go and his velocity showed readings of 93 and 94 mph at times.

“I think it was extremely gutsy what he tried to do every fifth or sixth day,” Girardi said. “He knew if he gave everything he had, there was a better chance the knee would rear its ugly head.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what happened,” Sabathia said. “If I can’t push myself to a certain limit than I’m not helping anybody. I’m not helping myself. I’m not helping the organization the team.”

Luck ran out for Sabathia and the Yankees on Sunday and with their most experienced postseason pitcher sidelined, a group of untested stretch drive starting pitchers will try to get New York back to the playoffs.

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