Yankees place CC Sabathia on the 15-day DL with elbow stiffness

Update by Mike (5:31 p.m.): Just to be clear, Sabathia did have an MRI and everything came back clean according to Sweeny Murti. He’s on the DL retroactively, so the hope is that he’ll miss the minimum two starts.

Update by Joe (4:23 p.m.): Joe Girardi announced that Sabathia will go on the 15-day DL. He told reporters that the concern was “low level,” though it’s tough to imagine him saying anything more grave. Mark Feinsand tweets: “Sabathia has felt some minor stiffness the past couple starts. It hasn’t gotten worse but it hasn’t gotten better.” The idea is to make sure that he’s fresh and healthy for the stretch run. He can come off the DL August 23rd.

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Via Mark Feinsand, left-hander CC Sabathia has experienced some minor soreness in his left elbow since his last start. He threw his regular bullpen session yesterday, though there is still a chance the team plays it safe and skips his next start. “Right now, it’s a low-level concern … Long-term, it’s not a big concern,” said Feinsand’s source.

The Yankees can downplay this all they want, but they obviously have to take a conservative approach here. Especially with such a comfortable lead in the division. Play it safe, please.