Yankees’ Injury News: CC Out Until July

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Well, Happy Monday, folks. The New York Yankees received yet another blow to their injury woes today. Bombers’ GM, Brian Cashman, told the New York Post’s Joel Sherman that CC Sabathia will remain on the shelf longer than expected.

“It will be no sooner than six weeks from now,” Cashman told Sherman. That puts Sabathia at an early July return, however, Cashman remained very vague in setting an actual date. The Yankees are already down Michael Pineda, who should be back in a few weeks, and Ivan Nova, who is out for the season. Sabathia won’t be rushed back, but in the same, he is needed by the Yankees sooner than later.

Sabathia hit the 15-day DL on May 11th with knee issues. Several visits with Dr. James Andrews deemed that there was no structural damage to the knee, however their was fluid buildup and according to what Dr. Andrews told CBS Sports, some degenerative changes in his knee. He has since received a shot in his right knee. The stem cell treatment will take no less than the six weeks to recover.

The big lefty already has his rehab set out for him. He will come off his crutches today and hopefully begin strengthening the knee tomorrow with pool therapy. Once he has rebuilt some of the strength in his knee, they can move on with an “abridged spring training” and get CC back to the mound. As a starting pitcher, the knee needs to be fully recovered with so much weight being placed upon it when clamping down on every pitch. Hopefully, Sabathia’s road to recovery doesn’t take much longer than expected.

It is no secret that Sabathia has struggled this season. His velocity has been down and his control has been inconsistent at best. Sabathia is 3-4 on the 2014 season with a 5.28 ERA and 48 strikeouts over his first 46 innings pitched.