Hammy may sideline CC 4-6 weeks
ANAHEIM — The Yankees did not get the news they were hoping for on CC Sabathia. Despite telling the team he felt better than expected, Sabathia has a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring, and will likely be heading to the disabled list.
No official announcement on a DL stint has been made as of yet, but Grade 2 strains have typically required around 4-6 weeks of recovery.
Sabathia had an MRI on Wednesday. The 36-year-old lefty was shut down for the end of the 2013 season after suffering the same injury in late September that year.
He hurt himself on the second-to-last pitch of the fourth in Tuesday night’s loss to the Angels, and left the game following the end of the inning.
Joe Girardi said on Tuesday that he anticipated Sabathia would need to go on the disabled list.
“We’ll see what Dr. Christopher Ahmad says,” Girardi said before Wednesday’s game.
Sabathia has pitched to a 0.99 ERA in his previous six starts. His next turn would’ve been on Sunday in Oakland. said.
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“We’re going to make sure he’s healthy before he takes the mound,” Girardi
Girardi said if the Yankees did DL Sabathia, Chad Green would be a candidate to take his place in the rotation. Green started last Sunday against Baltimore. In the immediate future, the Yankees could move Green to Saturday and move Masahiro Tanaka back a day again to Sunday, Girardi said.
The Yankees promoted Ronald Herrera from Double-A Trenton and sent Ben Heller down to Triple-A Scranton to add a fresh arm capable of potentially giving them distance if needed.
The Yankees are going to need someone to step up in Sabathia’s expected absence. Is it Green? Domingo German? Chance Adams? Someone else? This is nothing new for the Bronx Bombers, who have already had to overcome several injuries this season.
Aroldis Chapman (rotator cuff) threw a 23-pitch simulated game on Wednesday. He was supposed to pitch for Class A Tampa, but threw the simulated game instead due to inclement weather. Chapman remains on track to pitch for Double-A Trenton on Friday before being activated Sunday in Oakland.
On Wednesday, Aaron Judge was the DH, Matt Holliday was at first and Rob Refsnyder got the start in right field. Joe Girardi wanted to give Judge a half-day but still keep his explosive bat in the lineup.