CC Sabathia Injury: Updates on Yankees Star’s Injured Elbow
August 11, 2012 · Michael Moraitis · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
The New York Yankees have battled injuries to their starting rotation the entire season, and now their ace, CC Sabathia, is the latest pitcher to fall victim.
Updated on August 12 at 10:00 p.m. EDT
Sabathia is expecting his stay on the DL to be short, per Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com. Here’s what the report is saying about the Yankees’ ace.
“August 24,” he said. “That’s the day I’m pitching.”
The Yankees ace didn’t say “maybe,” or “hopefully” or “if all goes well.”
Sabathia said he is sure that whatever is ailing his $191 million left elbow will clear up within the next two weeks and will allow him to come off the disabled list Aug. 23, the soonest he is eligible to return.
Also in Matthews’ report, Sabathia explains how the injury was a scary experience for him.
Sabathia acknowledged, however, that he was frightened by what he said was the first arm problem he ever had experienced in his 12 major-league seasons, especially when he woke up the day after his start against Seattle on Aug. 3 and couldn’t raise his left arm high enough to touch his shoulder with his hand.
“I woke up the next day, and my arm was kinda swollen, and I didn’t really have any range of motion,” he said. “So I was really nervous, honestly.”
Sabathia is obviously optimistic about his 15-day recovery, but make no mistake about it: Joe Girardi will sit him longer if he feels it to be necessary.
In this case, it’s important Sabathia comes back quickly, but what’s even more important is that the Bombers don’t bring him back before he’s ready and risk losing their ace for the entire season. That would be catastrophic.
—–End of Update—–
Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com is reporting that Sabathia will be headed to the disabled list with stiffness in his throwing elbow.
According to Girardi, Sabathia first felt the stiffness after pitching a complete game against the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 3 at Yankee Stadium. A subsequent MRI came back clean, so Sabathia made his next start five days later in Detroit, but left after 6 1/3 innings and just 94 pitches.
Girardi said the stiffness resurfaced after that start, but the decision to put Sabathia on the DL was not made until about 4 p.m. Saturday.
Sabathia’s injury is just the latest in a slew of trainer’s room problems for the Bombers. Sabathia joins Andy Pettitte, Michael Pineda and Mariano Rivera as a member of the walking wounded in the Yanks’ pitching staff.
For the season, Sabathia is 12-3 with a 3.56 ERA, and while those numbers are solid, they aren’t very Sabathia-like.
Normally, Sabathia gets better as the hotter months come during the baseball season, but that hasn’t happened as expected this season.
No matter how serious this injury might or might not be, the Yankees did the right thing shutting Sabathia down for now.
Yes, he is a workhorse, but Sabathia is also human, and with all the voids in the Yanks’ pitching staff, they simply couldn’t take a chance losing their ace for an extended amount of time.
If all goes well, Sabathia should be back by the end of August, and in the meantime, New York will have to piece it together and try to hold onto their division lead, now without two of their best starters.
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