Whenever CC Sabathia was asked this season how his elbow felt, the left-hander responded: “I’m good enough to pitch.”
He pitched his way to 15 wins and 200 innings despite a bone spur on his left elbow — which might have been there for years — that was removed yesterday during arthroscopic surgery performed by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.
The Yankees expect their ace to be fully recovered before the start of next season.
Sabathia had arm trouble for the first time in his career this season, with elbow discomfort landing him on the disabled list in August — one of two trips he made to the disabled list this season.
General manager Brian Cashman said the surgery, which revealed no ligament damage, was the outcome the team expected. During a press conference on Wednesday, before the result of the surgery was known, manager Joe Girardi said he expected Sabathia to be ready for spring training.
Yesterday, a pair of doctors agreed.
“That’s reasonable,” said Dr. Michael Hausman, Orthopedic Surgeon and Chief of Hand and Elbow Surgery at The Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. “It typically takes 10-to-12 weeks to get back to normal, so maybe he won’t be throwing as hard as he usually does when he starts out, but he’ll get back there.”
The surgery is not uncommon for pitchers and Sabathia should be able to get back to the level he was before the injury, because he was feeling the effects of the spur throughout the season.
“It’s usually a quick recovery and the surgery will eliminate the pain the spur causes in the elbow when he releases the ball,” said Dr. David Geier, Director of Sports Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. “If anything, he should be better than he was this year because he shouldn’t have to pitch through pain.”
As he left the Stadium for the last time over the weekend, Sabathia admitted being “a little bit” concerned.
“It’s something I have never felt before, never had a problem with the elbow,’’ said Sabathia, who was set to opt out of his contract a year ago before being extended to 2016, with an option for 2017 that could pay him $119 million. “I felt it off and on in between starts. But I didn’t feel it on the field.’’
On Wednesday, though confident Sabathia would be OK, Girardi said: “But I don’t like people going to see doctors.”
Especially when that doctor is Andrews and the pitcher is Sabathia. The 32-year-old has been durable, throwing at least 200 innings each of the past six years. He went 15-6 this season despite being shelved twice, once for the elbow and another stint for a groin injury. And despite some occasional inconsistency, he finished strong, pitching at least eight innings and giving up no more than two runs in each of his final three starts of the regular season.
That success carried over into the beginning of the playoffs, with Sabathia pitching well in two wins over the Orioles in the ALDS before an ugly outing against the Tigers in the Yankees’ season-ending loss in the ALCS.