NEW YORK (AFP) – New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia will be sidelined for the remainder of the Major League Baseball season and playoffs because of a left hamstring injury, the team announced Monday.
Sabathia, a 33-year-old left-hander, suffered a hamstring strain last Friday while throwing seven innings in a 5-1 victory over San Francisco and doctors say it will take about eight weeks to heal.
The Yankees are four games behind Cleveland for the final American League playoff berth with six games to play and Sabathia’s injury means he will miss his final scheduled start in New York’s rotation.
In 32 starts this year, Sabathia is 14-13 with a career-worst 4.78 earned run average. This will be his first season since 2006, when he pitched for Cleveland, that he will not win at least 15 games in a campaign.
Sabathia, a six-time All-Star Game pitcher, won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award as top pitcher while with the Indians.
