Last month, Yankees starter CC Sabathia underwent a procedure -- angioplasty -- in which he had a stent inserted to open a clogged artery. The club announced that the lefty underwent a follow-up stress test on Tuesday and checked out fine. As a result, he has been cleared to begin working out and can resume baseball activities. Sabathia is expected to be ready to participate when spring training begins in February.
Sabathia, 38, inked a one-year, $8 million contract with the Yankees in November. He’s coming off of a solid 2018 campaign in which he finished with a 3.65 ERA and a 140/51 K/BB ratio over 153 innings. It’s the third straight year Sabathia has finished with a sub-4.00 ERA, showing he still has a little something left in the tank in his late 30’s.
Sabathia figures to anchor the back end of the Yankees’ revamped rotation, which also includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, and James Paxton. The Yankees are expected to trade Sonny Gray, who is on the outside looking in as far as the rotation goes.