Sabathia Ready To Contribute in 2015

After a right knee injury sidelined him for most of the 2014 season, CC Sabathia is now healthy, and ready to make a comeback in 2015.

Never having made fewer than 28 starts in a season in his career, Sabathia discovered just how much he missed facing major league hitters. “Having almost a year off has gotten the fire back in me,’’ Sabathia told The New York Post. “Having baseball taken away from me stunk. I am excited to get going.’’

Sabathia’s injury could have been much worse, seeing as he could have had the dreaded micro-fracture surgery, that could have put his career in jeopardy. Instead, Sabathia had a routine cleanup procedure in his knee. But with his performance having declined over the past two seasons, and his age at 34 going into next season, there is still definite reason for concern.

There’s no doubt that Sabathia, who is owed $48 million over the next two season, will be grossly overpaid for the type of production he will likely give. However, if he can at least be a solid, dependable 4-5 starter, the Yankees and their fans would be very pleased.

Having Sabathia healthy and productive will be a big key to the Yankees’ success next season. With Masahiro Tanaka‘s elbow a cause for concern, along with the fact that Hiroki Kuroda might retire, Brandon McCarthy may not return, and Ivan Nova isn’t returning until at least May, Sabathia will be heavily relied upon to eat up innings, like he has always done in the past.

The question is, will he be able to? That is a question that we will not know the answer to for at least another six months.