Before the Yankees left Milwaukee on Sunday, CC Sabathia said the words no team wants to hear.
“He asked to go see Dr. [James] Andrews,” general manager Brian Cashman said Monday.
The Yankees are still trying to determine the cause of the fluid buildup in his right knee that led to the 33-year-old being placed on the 15-day disabled list.
It was just the latest blow to an already bruised rotation that has lost Ivan Nova for the season and Michael Pineda at least until June.
Despite Sabathia’s request, Cashman said he wasn’t overly concerned the injury was worse than originally feared and didn’t rule out a short absence.
“The fluid on the knee is being caused by something,” Cashman said. “It’s definitely not a meniscus [tear] according to the MRI readings in Milwaukee. Our team doctor might have a different interpretation when he gets his hands on [the MRI].”
Sabathia underwent knee surgery in 2010, which was performed by team doctor Christopher Ahmad.
While Sabathia’s injury is further investigated, the Yankees are running out of reliable arms to turn to.
Joe Girardi would prefer to keep Alfredo Aceves in the bullpen, but he could be a candidate to start on Thursday against the Mets. Another possibility is Chase Whitley, who is at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and whom the Yankees have lined up to be available that day.
Cashman said the earliest Sabathia would be able to see Andrews would be Wednesday and until then, they won’t know what the next step will be.
Regardless of what’s discovered, Sabathia will continue to be a question mark until he proves he is healthy and can be consistently effective. The rash of injuries to the rotation have turned what was thought to be a team strength into anyone’s guess.
“Our surplus isn’t such a surplus anymore,” Girardi said. “We’ve had to dig pretty deep here because of injuries. You lose 60 percent of your rotation, you’re going to lose a lot of guys. … All teams are going to go through it and we’ve got to find a way to get through it.”
Cashman put it bluntly.
“It’s not optimal,” Cashman said.
So how do they fix it?
“We’ve done it with [Vidal] Nuno and [David] Phelps so far,” Cashman said. “We’ve got to do it with someone else. We’ve got no choice.”
Although Cashman said he’d be open to trading for a pitcher, he acknowledged it’s too early in the season to have any reasonable expectations of being able to go that route.
Girardi has said repeatedly he’d like to keep Adam Warren in the bullpen, where he’s mostly thrived since being moved there. Cashman left open the possibility of moving him back into the rotation.
“We might have to,” Cashman said. “The bottom line is, Warren is not in the bullpen because he’s a failed starter. He’s capable of starting. Just like we had to pull Phelps out, I’m not ruling anything out. We’re obviously going to have to plug holes in the rotation.”
And the GM is still holding out hope the team gets a best-case scenario from Ahmad.
“That’s CC getting the knee drained, rest five days, gets a couple of bullpens [sessions] in and takes a start when he comes off the DL,” Cashman said.
The best-case scenario isn’t something the Yankees have dealt with much this season.