Sabathia made a successful rehab start, and Pineda felt fine after playing catch on Saturday.
At this time last week, Michael Pineda had been shut down due to an MRI that showed lingering inflammation near an "upper back muscle near his right shoulder," whatever that means. He was supposed to play catch last Saturday, but that got postponed to yesterday. This week everything went according to plan, and he not only played catch yesterday, but also reportedly felt fine afterwards. Granted he only made twenty-five throws from sixty feet, but that's probably the best thing we've heard since he first went on the DL. The game plan will be to get Pineda up to throwing 120 feet playing catch, then work towards flat ground, bullpens, batting practice and simulated games. Given the multitude of setbacks Pineda's has already experienced, the Yankees should make sure that the rehab process moves as slowly as possible.
There is also good news on the CC Sabathia front, unless you're one of those "Do we even want him to come off of the DL?" people. He made his first rehab start yesterday in High-A Tampa, and he pitched 2.1 innings during which he gave up two runs on two hits, and a walk. It sounds like some bad defense was partially responsible for those runs, as both hits bounced off the fielder's glove. The best part is that afterwards, CC said that he couldn't be happier with how he felt physically. Joe Girardi said that he expects CC to need a minimum of two more starts before he can be activated from the disabled list. That means he should be ready to return shortly after the All-Star break.