Sabathia relieved by brief absence

CC Sabathia expects to throw a bullpen session Saturday or Sunday and to be able to pitch for the Yankees when they visit Boston next week, a much rosier outlook than after he left his most recent start Tuesday with pain in his surgically repaired right knee.

“To go home,” Sabathia said when asked what he was thinking in the immediate aftermath of his latest bout with knee issues that left him despondent following the game in Toronto. “Quite honestly, yes, that’s what I was thinking. I was in a lot of pain. I felt like I was letting the team down. I was disappointed in myself for letting my knee get to this point again. There was a lot going through my head.”

But an MRI exam that showed no further structural damage and a conversation with his wife, Amber, helped clear Sabathia’s mind.

“The MRI made me feel kind of better and then my wife talked me straight,” said Sabathia, who received an injection Wednesday of cortisone, platelet-rich plasma and stem cells.

Any relief Sabathia felt upon learning there was no new injury was overshadowed by the reality his knee could act up at any time. That’s something he will consider when deciding whether to keep playing after his contract ends following this season.

“It’s not fun,’’ Sabathia said of dealing with the injury. “The other night wasn’t fun. Everything leading up to this puts you in bad place. ... There’s just no reason [for the pain]. It’s just a bad knee. There’s nothing in there to point to.”

The Yankees placed Sabathia on the 10-day disabled list Friday, retroactive to Wednesday, meaning rookie Jordan Montgomery will take Sabathia’s spot in the rotation on Sunday against the Red Sox and Chris Sale.