Ouch! Yankees lose Sabathia and Pettitte on same day

Earlier today the New York Yankees announced CC Sabathia was placed on the 15-day DL due to a groin strain, and the injury news got worse when Andy Pettitte took a liner off his left ankle in the fifth inning of today’s 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians.

Sabathia is expected to miss two starts and should return after the All-Star break. It was just announced that Pettitte will be out six weeks due to a fractured ankle, but does not need surgery.

The Yankees will use Freddy Garcia and most likely Adam Warren to take the rotation spots for the Yankees. Warren was already being mentioned as the possible call-up when the Sabathia announcement was made. This now seems a certainty.

Sabathia suffered his injury during his last start and felt discomfort in his most recent bullpen session. Sabathia will miss a start for the first time since 2006.

As mentioned earlier by C.J. Hangen on Yanks Go Yard, the Yankees have a tough schedule ahead of them and losing their top two pitchers will make it even more difficult to maintain their lead in the American League East.

Garcia has pitched well in his last couple relief outings including today’s. Warren is 5-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 15 starts for Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

It will be tough for either pitcher to get the results produced by Sabathia and Pettitte. Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes will have to pick up the slack and maintain their recent string of good performances.

It will also put pressure on the offense to score runs for pitchers (Garcia and Warren) who will not necessarily be relied on to pitch dominant games.

A rough day for the Yankees despite the series sweep of the Indians.

*Updated* Warren will start Friday’s game against the Chicago White Sox and Garcia will start Monday versus the Tampa Bay Rays.