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Come Fan with UsSunday, June 21, 2026

CC Sabathia Injury: Elbow Sends Yankee Ace To DL

CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees reacts to the game action in the top of the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images)
CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees reacts to the game action in the top of the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images)
CC Sabathia #52 of the New York Yankees reacts to the game action in the top of the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images)
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One thing we all know about CC Sabathia: He's a workhorse. He's a great pitcher and he's durable.

Like, you know a working horse. A big one.

Well, he’s still great. But this season he’s not much of a workhorse.

Earlier this summer, Sabathia missed a few weeks with a groin injury. And now he’s going on the DL again, this time with a different problem. Here’s MLB.com’s Chris Toman:

Sabathia, who was slated to start Monday against the Rangers, has been battling stiffness in his elbow for a few starts since coming off the DL with a Grade 1 left groin strain in July. He had an MRI on the elbow, which came back clean, but the tightness continued into his start Wednesday against the Tigers, and that is when manager Joe Girardi said the team became a little bit concerned about its star pitcher.

Girardi expects Sabathia, who will undergo another exam Monday, to come off the DL when he is eligible to return on Aug. 23, and then start the next night against the Indians.

As Toman points out, while battling this elbow stiffness, “Sabathia is 3-0 with a 3.89 ERA. He has struck out 35 batters and walked just six in 34 2/3 innings of work over that stretch.”

That's encouraging. Considering the generally uninspiring nature of the Yankees' rotation, while they don't need a healthy Sabathia to win the American League East, they probably need a healthy Sabathia to reach the World Series.

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