Dr. James Andrews didn’t find a meniscus tear in CC Sabathia’s right knee Tuesday, however the hinge has issues that are going to be addressed Thursday in Birmingham, Ala.
“There are degenerative changes in his knee,’’ Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said of Sabathia, who was put on the disabled list Sunday with fluid on the knee. “He is going to receive an injection of cortisone and stem cell to try and deal with this. That’s the protocol when you see degenerative. The knee is stable but he does have degenerative changes. What does that mean?
“He has cartilage breakdown. We have current players [Carlos Beltran] and past players that have dealt with this.’’
Cashman said former Yankees Hideki Matsui, Randy Johnson, Raul Ibanez and Andruw Jones went through the procedure.
Cashman said the procedure has worked out for many players.
“You drain the knee, inject the cortisone and stem cell into the knee and you see how it responds,” he said. “That’s the typical protocol for that. There have been a number of successes through the process.”