Yankees consider options with CC Sabathia bound for DL

The Yankees are expected to be without CC Sabathia for at least four weeks with a strained hamstring. Who could join the rotation in his place?

The New York Yankees‘ Opening Day rotation held together for quite a while. In fact, Chad Green‘s outing last Sunday was the first time this year the club had used a starting pitcher outside its initial group of five. And that was only planned as a one-time maneuver to give the struggling Masahiro Tanaka an extra day of rest. Unfortunately, they will have to make a longer-term change with CC Sabathia likely headed to the disabled list.

The veteran lefty exited his start on Tuesday night against the Angels after four innings with tightness in his left hamstring. Yesterday it was revealed that he had been diagnosed with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, per ESPN.com. While he has not been placed on the DL yet, he is expected to be out for at least four weeks.

While an injury to any member of the starting rotation is a blow, Sabathia’s potential absence is especially frustrating in light of how remarkably well he has been pitching lately. After posting a bloated 5.77 ERA through his first seven outings, it all suddenly clicked for the 36-year-old southpaw.

Sabathia had been working on a sparkling 0.99 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and 5.00 K/BB ratio over his last six starts, including Tuesday’s truncated outing. And he appeared well on his way to another fine showing in that one, allowing just one unearned run in his four innings before his removal. The run of dominance lowered his season ERA to 3.46.

CC wasn’t just pitching well for an aging veteran: He was looking like his vintage, Cy Young-caliber self. Though it almost surely wouldn’t have lasted for the remainder of the year, his recent form has played a prominent role in the Yankees’ success, and they would have loved to ride the wave as long as possible.

Now, they will need to decide who will carry the load while Sabathia is sidelined. The most popular internal option among the fanbase would probably be minor league right-hander Chance Adams. The 22-year-old has rocketed up the Yanks’ organizational ladder, moving from High-A Tampa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre within the last year.

Adams is off to a good start in Scranton, managing a 2.52 ERA over his first six starts. Overall, he’s generated dazzling numbers in his minor league career: a 23-4 record, 2.08 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 3.48 K/BB between all levels.

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However, calling up Adams would require the Yanks to make a move on the 40-man roster, meaning he probably won’t be their first attempted solution. There is also a sense that the team will only promote Adams when it feels he will be in the rotation to stay, rather than as a four-week band-aid.

Of the 40-man roster candidates, Chad Green and Luis Cessa appear to be the likely options. Considering Green has been up with the team for a while and already made a start this year, he’ll probably get the first crack at it. He looked solid in his first two innings against the Orioles on Sunday, but stumbled in the third, at which point his pitch limit came into play. Prior to that outing, he logged a 1.62 ERA through 16.2 innings of relief, holding opponents to a .115 batting average.

Domingo German is another intriguing possibility. The 24-year-old righty made his big league debut last Sunday, hurling 2.2 scoreless innings to finish the game. He was sent back down the next day, but could easily be called back up. Nevertheless, Green still seems like the safest choice to start, at least initially.

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While the Yankees’ high-powered offense has had a lot to do with their surprising performance thus far in 2017, strong starting pitching from a rotation that entered the year with its share of question marks has also played no small part. They will have to hope Sabathia’s absence doesn’t hinder them too much, and that he’ll be back on the mound sooner rather than later.