The bad news for the Yankees rotation continues.
Yankees starting pitcher CC Sabathia will require surgery to "clean up" his knee and will miss the remainder of the season, New York GM Brian Cashman told reporters on Friday afternoon. Cashman is hopeful the 33-year-old left-hander will be ready in time for next season, telling reporters, "Hopefully, next year will be a different story." Andrew Marchand of ESPN NY also reports that while Sabathia has avoided microfracture surgery for now, but "if the initial surgery does not work, then a microfracture procedure could be in play." Such a procedure could be career-threatening.
Sabathia, who hasn't pitched in a major league game since May 10, had a 3-4 record and 5.28 ERA in 46 innings of work in 2014, following up on a season in which he allowed a career-high 112 runs for a 4.78 ERA. Dr. James Andrews in May said Sabathia may need the knee "cleaned out" due to the breakdown of cartilage and warned of degenerative changes. Following a cortisone injection, Sabathia pitched in two games on a rehab assignment during an attempt to avoid surgery, most recently on July 2 with the Double-A Trenton Thunder, before being shut down.
Rookie right-hander Chase Whitley replaced Sabathia in the Yankees rotation and has compiled a 4-3 record and 5.10 ERA in the 12 games he's pitched since that time. The Yankees enter play Friday with a 47-47 record, five games out of the lead in the AL East and 3½ games behind Seattle for the second wild card slot. Their rotation will continue to be tested, after losing ace Masahiro Tanaka for at least six weeks to a partial tear to his ulnar collateral ligament.