Yankees Place C.C. Sabathia on DL

THe New York Yankees have placed starter C.C. Sabathia on the 15-day DL with soreness in his pitching elbow. (Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE)

In a wise move, the New York Yankees have placed ace C.C. Sabathia on the 15-day DL after he began experiencing soreness in his pitching elbow. The decision came after Sabathia made his last start August 8 against the Tigers and went just 6 1/3 innings.

After the Yankees 5-2 win on Saturday, Sabathia was spotted icing his elbow in the Yankees locker room. The decision wasn’t an easy one for the Yankees to make but manager Joe Girardi explained that the toughness of the decision stemmed from the fact that the Yankees didn’t view Sabathia’s elbow stiffness as a serious problem.

“It’s not like it got any worse.” Girardi said after the game yesterday. “He wants to pitch on Monday, which I’m not surprised, because he said he’s dealt with it before. We just decided, let’s try to get it cleaned up now.”

And that’s the smartest thing the Yankees have done all year long. Sitting 6 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and 6.5 games ahead of the Orioles in the A.L. East, it’s all but certain the Yankees will make the playoffs as either the East representative or at the very least a Wild Card play-in team. If the Yankees want to make a serious run through the playoffs at a World Series, they will need their ace Sabathia.

Sabathia joins a slew of Yankees already on the DL including outfielder Brett Gardner, closer Mariano Rivera, fellow starter Andy Pettitte and third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

With potential opponents in the postseason being the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers, the pitching opposition will be rough this postseason and the Yankees will need to stay on track with them. The Yankees need guy healthy and the one way to do that is to let them sit and get healthy.

The trip to the DL puts a kink in Sabathia’s hopes to win the A.L. Cy Young but if you ask anyone close to him, he’d much rather add another World Series ring this year and win a personal Cy Young next year. That’s the mindset of the Yankees and it’s a good one to have if they want to capture yet another world championship.

No word has come from the Yankees as to who will replace Sabathia while he’d on the DL.