HEALTHY LIVING
Sabathia’s knee sound heading into first start
TORONTO — When CC Sabathia couldn’t make it past three innings against the Blue Jays last August at Rogers Centre because of discomfort in his right knee, the veteran lefty felt there was a chance his season was over.
And being 37, it wasn’t out of the question to think Sabathia had pitched the final game of his career. Nothing he said afterward painted a positive picture.
“It’s hard to land. It’s hard for me to finish my pitches,’’ a dejected Sabathia said that night. “It’s hard for me to get over my front side.’’
Sabathia went on the DL, but didn’t stay long. He was activated Aug. 19 and went 5-0 with a 2.91 ERA in eight starts to help the Yankees chase the Red Sox to the final weekend in the AL East race, which they finished second. The Yankees went 6-2 in that stretch in which Sabathia worked 46 ¹/3 innings, gave up 43 hits, 12 walks, fanned 40 and held hitters to a .246 average.
Late Saturday afternoon, Sabathia returns to Rogers Centre for the first time since that night to make his 2018 debut. And he does so with a right knee in good shape, one that didn’t require draining recently.
“We tried at the end of spring training and there was nothing [fluid] in there,’’ Sabathia said Friday before the Yankees hung a 4-2 loss on the Blue Jays. “There was nothing to drain which is real good actually.’’
Sabathia said the Rogers Centre mound had nothing to do with the problem that first surfaced when he was running in the outfield before the Aug. 8 game. He knew he was hurt, but a talk with his wife Amber helped him get through the night.
“I was as hurt as I thought I was, we knew that,’’ Sabathia said. “Then I talked to my wife and she said, ‘We have been through this before’ and it put me at ease, but it was still frustrating. I talked to her and I calmed down.’’
Sabathia will work Saturday with a RIP message on the side of his glove for a cousin who died in 2003.
Even had Aaron Hicks not gone on the DL on Friday, manager Aaron Boone was going to hit Didi Gregorius fourth between Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez instead of third after Aaron Judge and in front of Stanton. Gregorius went 2-for-3, scored twice and was thrown out at home for the first out of the second inning on a chopper to third.
Boone started Tyler Austin at first base Thursday and moved Walker from second to first in the sixth inning. That meant Tyler
Wade entered the game at second. It’s a move Boone might get used to using.
“[Thursday] was something you could see when we have that personnel,’’ said Boone, who started the left-handed hitting Wade at second and Walker, a switch-hitter, at first against Blue Jays on Friday. Mickey Rivers and Bucky Dent will throw out the ceremonial first pitches at the home opener Monday.