CC Sabathia knows what Yankees fans are going through. He has had to watch the Bombers stumble, feeling helpless as he recovers from the knee injury that sidelined him in early May.
“It sucks, man,” Sabathia said before the Yankees’ 2-1 loss to the Rays Tuesday night at the Stadium. “Just sitting around and not being part of the team out here grinding. This was a tough month. It’s been tough.”
Sabathia could move one step closer to returning to the Yankees rotation on Wednesday night when he makes his second rehab start, this one in Trenton for the Double-A Thunder against the Portland Sea Dogs. It was originally thought he would pitch Thursday night, but after a 37-pitch outing in Tampa on Saturday, the Yankees decided he could pitch a day earlier.
Though Sabathia has been frustrated watching the Yankees struggle to stay above .500, he knows he can’t rush things after being diagnosed with a degenerative right knee, which required stem-cell treatment.
“I don’t think [trainer Steve Donohue] is going to let me rush myself back,” Sabathia said. “If it was up to me, I would already have been back. It’s just one step at a time. I’ve been feeling good, so I’m excited.”
The speculation around the Yankees has centered on how general manager Brian Cashman can bolster the starting pitching with a trade before the deadline, but the biggest help for the Yankees could come if Sabathia returns this month and is 100 percent. He is expected to throw around 50 pitches Wednesday. Sabathia, who turns 34 on July 21, may only need one more rehab start after Wednesday’s before returning some time after the All-Star break.
Sabathia pitched for Single-A Tampa last Saturday. He gave up a pair of runs in 2¹/₃ innings. He said the knee came through the outing fine.
“No problems,” Sabathia said. “I had a couple of balls where I had to move around and get over [to first base] and stuff and I felt fine. I don’t see it as being any problem [Wednesday] either.”
Sabathia made eight starts before landing on the disabled list on May 11. He went 3-4 with a 5.28 ERA while clearly struggling with the knee.
If Sabathia can return to the form Yankees fans grew accustomed to, how much of an impact can he have on this team?
“I guess my impact the first couple of years here,” he said. “Hopefully, I can get back to that.”
The time on the disabled list might end up benefitting Sabathia and the Yankees. Sabathia has been a workhorse throughout his major league career. He has pitched at least 200 innings in each of the last seven years. Sabathia was asked if he thought he might be stronger down the stretch this year after all the time on the shelf.
“We’ll see,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Sabathia said he did not feel like there was any specific test he needed to pass Wednesday. He’s just focused on throwing strikes and building up his pitch count.
“The fastball command is the biggest thing because I throw everything off of that. It’s been decent,” he said. “Hopefully, it won’t take me too long and I can get back in the groove and start pounding the strike zone.”