At long last, some good injury news. CC Sabathia returns from the injured list this afternoon to begin his final season. My only real regret with the looming RAB shutdown is not covering Sabathia’s final season through to the end. He is an all-time favorite and an all-time great Yankee. I’m glad he’s back.
“Obviously what he brings to us between the lines (is important),” Aaron Boone said prior to yesterday’s loss. “But there’s no question that his presence in our room is one of the intangible things that he brings that’s really valuable.”
Sabathia will be on an undisclosed pitch count today. He threw 62 pitches in his minor league rehab start last Sunday, so I’m guessing that puts him on track for 75-80 pitches today. Hopefully that gets him through five innings. If not, well, it’ll just be par for the course for the Yankees this year. Here are today’s starting lineups:
New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. 3B DJ LeMahieu
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. 1B Greg Bird
6. DH Clint Frazier
7. LF Mike Tauchman
8. C Kyle Higashioka
9. 2B Tyler Wade
LHP CC Sabathia
Chicago White Sox
1. RF Leury Garcia
2. SS Tim Anderson
3. DH Jose Abreu
4. 1B Yonder Alonso
5. 3B Yoan Moncada
6. LF Eloy Jimenez
7. C Welington Castillo
8. 2B Jose Rondon
9. CF Adam Engel
RHP Ivan Nova
The rain stopped earlier this morning and it is now cloudy and sneaky warm in the Bronx. There is no more rain in the forecast even though the sky is gray. Today’s game will begin at 1:05pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network. Try to enjoy.
Injury Update: Giancarlo Stanton (biceps) said he is not 100% yet and his tee and soft toss work has not been at full capacity. He’s taking easy swings only. Stanton feels good and is progressing, but he is still early in the rehab process.
Roster Move: Stephen Tarpley was sent to Triple-A Scranton following last night’s game to clear a roster spot for Sabathia, the Yankees announced. Since Dellin Betances is not coming back anytime soon, this is Joe Harvey’s chance to carve out a role with the Yankees.
Misc. Note: Jacoby Ellsbury is apparently so far away from returning that the Yankees gave his locker to Gio Urshela. It’s a prime piece of real estate too, tucked into a corner where it’s somewhat easier to hide from reporters. The Yankees are so beat up and have so many injury call-ups right now that every locker in their gigantic clubhouse is occupied except the empty veteran privilege lockers next to Sabathia and Gardner.