After pitcher CC Sabathia was forced to leave his last start early due to pain in his right knee, the New York Yankees sent him back to New York on Wednesday to have further tests done to determine the extent of the injury.
The MRI revealed no additional damage, but that doesn't mean he is in the clear.
"The key for him has been bringing stability back to the knee, and the brace has been a big part of that," Girardi said, per the AP. "But when you're landing and you have pain every pitch, you're going to have a hard time. That's what we saw last night, so we've got to knock that out."
The knee has bothered Sabathia for the past several years, but it hadn't been an issue this season before Tuesday. New York still fears that Sabathia will end up on the disabled list, but now they know he won't miss a large chunk of time.
“It’s just hard to land. It’s hard for me to finish my pitches,” Sabathia said. “It’s hard for me to get over my front side and finish the pitches. When I can’t do that, I don’t know where the ball’s going.”
The Yankees do have depth in their rotation after adding Sonny Gray and Jamie Garcia at the trade deadline, and while they have Jordan Montgomery in the minors, they are trying to limit his innings.
Sabathia is 9-5 with a 4.05 ERA and 80 strikeouts in 19 starts this season. However, he has been pitching better of late with a 2.98 ERA in his past dozen starts.
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