CC Sabathia to undergo knee surgery
According to Joel Sherman of the
New York Post, New York Yankees ace pitcher, CC Sabathia, has been diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his right knee by the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
The injury is a common sports injury, and one that the organization does not consider serious, requiring only a minor surgery. Sabathia should recover in about three weeks, and he should not have any issues
with the knee when the team begins spring training next year.
Sabathia had an excellent season going 21-7 with a 3.18 ERA in 237 1/3 innings. He also racked up 197 strikeouts, and is a candidate for the American League Cy Young award.
His play dropped off dramatically in the playoffs however. The Yankees managed to win all three of his post-season starts, but not because of the star pitcher. He wasn’t able to pitch deeper than the sixth
inning in any of those starts, and he ended the playoffs with a 5.63 ERA.
Last year, as the Yankees won their 27th World Series, Sabathia started five games and went 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA in 36 1/3 innings.
The drop off in play could be attributed to the knee injury, although since the Yankees still managed to win both his American League Championship Series starts against the Texas Rangers, a healthy Sabathia
would not have made a difference in the outcome of the series, a 4-2 Rangers win.
Sabathia will enter his third year of a seven-year deal with $161 million next year. He’ll undergo the surgery at some point in the next few days.
In two seasons with the Yankees, Sabathia compiled 40 wins and logged 467 2/3 innings. He also has 394 strikeouts. He is a workhorse for the club, and he’ll be expected to log close to 200 innings again
in the 2011 season.
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