Yankees manager Joe Girardi is no doctor, but said he believes CC Sabathia will be ready for spring training despite an upcoming visit to Dr. James Andrews to examine the left elbow that landed the ace on the disabled list this season.
“I expect to have him in spring training,” said Girardi, basing his optimism on the left-hander’s performance down the stretch and in the ALDS against the Orioles. “You’re always concerned that maybe it’s more than what you think it is, but I think about both games against Baltimore that he did pretty good. In September, he did pretty good, and that makes me feel good that it’s something we’re going to get through and have him in spring training.”
Sabathia’s health is just one of the issues the pitching staff faces going forward, because the Yankees still don’t know if two of their top pitchers are going to be back.
Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte haven’t told the team if they definitely are returning, though Girardi saw signs from both that they would.
“I never asked Mo if this was his last year,” Girardi said. “We’re going to find out soon enough. I don’t think you would rehab like he did with that intensity if it’s not a possibility. Is it 100 percent? No, but I still think it’s a possibility.”
Pettitte also has indicated a potential desire to pitch again, especially because his season was interrupted by a broken leg.
“I still think the fire is there,’’ Girardi said. “Every year as you get older, you have to ask yourself and your family, ‘Am I ready to give up eight months of my life?’ ”
* Girardi said he was a “little bit” concerned about how left ankle surgery might impact Derek Jeter, but is confident he will be on the field to start the season.
“We expect him to be back and playing for us next year on Opening Day,” the manager said. “But I think whenever a guy goes through something, there are some concerns because sometimes a player could rush it and tweak something else. … We might have to hold him back a little bit.”
* Girardi said he doesn’t have any answers for Robinson Cano’s postseason flameout, which included an 0-for-29 stretch.
“All of a sudden you’re really trying to get into someone’s head and what they’re feeling, and I’m not a trained psychiatrist or psychologist,” Girardi said. “I think they pitched him pretty effectively. It’s one of those things that happens. You see guys go through streaks, but I think we were all as surprised by that as anything we saw during the postseason.”