CC Sabathia’s Knee Is Finally Showing Signs Of Improving

May 4, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia (52) pitches in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

CC Sabathia has taken the next step in his rehab after he threw a 25-pitch bullpen session on Monday. CC said that he feels good and didn’t feel any discomfort. “I’ll just keep going and keep ramping it up and hopefully get back as soon as possible.”  Sabathia  said.

Joe Girardi told Dan Martin of the New York Post, that although Sabathia is progressing well, he will still need what is equivalent to a second spring training before he is ready to return to the rotation. “I think that’s fair, if everything is on track, it’s going to be fairly similar,” Girardi said before the Yankees’ 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. “He’s been out a little bit, so [he] somewhat needs to rebuild up.”

The Yankees don’t need to rush Sabathia back, after all, they don’t want him to return as the same lackluster pitcher he was earlier in the year. It’s better to take it slow, and allow him to return as the more effective CC we have seen in the past. “We’ll just continue to increase the amount of pitches he throws,” Girardi said. “Then we’ll kind of go day-by-day with him. If he gets through [Wednesday], he’ll probably throw another bullpen. … So far, so good. He came out good from [Monday]. I would expect him to continue to progress, but we’ll see.” 

Sabathia is scheduled to throw another bullpen session today, which will include fastballs, change ups, and also sliders, unlike Monday where it was just fastballs and change ups.

The plan is to have Sabathia back before the All-Star break.