CC: I’ll never be 100% again
“No,” but quickly noted “if it’s like this, I can deal with it.”
Sabathia has no cartilage remaining under his knee cap and, because of that, he constantly will require treatment.
Sabathia, who underwent the season-ending s u rge r y Thursday, came to the Yankees clubhouse on crutches Tuesday. Sabathia last pitched May 10, f inishing 4-5 with a 5. 28 ERA for the Yankees in his 14th season. If there were any real good news for Sabathia, it was he avoided the more serious microfracture surgery, which the pitcher indicated would have likely ended his career.
“I don’t think I’m going to have microfracture while I’m playing. We talked about that and that’s not really an option,” said Sabathia who, despite his confidence for a return next season, still has no real idea how the knee will respond.
“I’ve got to test it to see. Don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t be able to go out there and be able to pitch.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman expressed conf idence Sabathia will return and relief that a microfracture procedure was avoided, but, being a GM, also issued a proper, cautionary flag.
“We ’ r e all hopeful that [surgery] is going to help but always, that storm cloud is on the horizon that he’s got bigger issues that may rear their ugly head down the line,” Cashman said. “And obviously, out of all the choices, microfracture was the last.
“It wa s a choice, though. It was a choice no one was recommending. But obviously, if he continues to have problems with the knee as we move forward going into next year it’s just an unpredictable circumstance. You’re hopeful but I can’t predict what’s going to happen.”
Cashman obviously understands Sabathia’s reluctance about microfracture. But again, devoid of a crystal ball, Cashman said the only recourse is to see how it plays out in 2015. He called it an “unpredictable future” because, while microfracture surgery is one option, there is no way to determine how Sabathia, or anyone, would respond.
“The unpre dictability is if you can return from that. And that makes it not a really appealing option for anybody,” Cashman said. “Hopefully, this procedure he just had is good enough to return him to our rotation every five days for an entire year starting next year.”
Fo r n ow, Sabathia will undergo stem-cell treatment in a few weeks and then proceed to playing catch a few weeks after that. He predicted a “normal offseason.”
“Fe e l pretty g o o d ,” Sabathia said. “I had surgery Thursday, I think and I can put a lot of weight on it. Still on crutches, obviously, but I have to take the next steps and make sure it doesn’t swell up.”
fred.kerber@ nypost.com