CC Sabathia leaves Yankees game with right hip soreness

CC Sabathia didn’t get off to the best start in tonight’s Yankees game, but it was a surprise to see Tommy Kahnle come out for the fifth inning. After throwing just 58 pitches, the Yankees announced that Sabathia was removed from the game with “right hip soreness.” He will undergo an MRI tonight.

Prior to his exit from the game, Sabathia had surrendered three solo home runs (two to Manny Machado, and one to Chris Davis). It certainly wasn’t his best outing, but CC only gave up one other hit. He also notched three strikeouts and didn’t issue any walks. Sabathia didn’t appear to be in noticeable pain on the mound, and it’s unclear when he might have suffered the injury.

Sabathia has struggled with injuries over the past few years, but those have been primarily related to his degenerative knee condition. He missed time last year with a hamstring strain, and hit the disabled list with a groin strain back in 2016. For what it’s worth, he doesn’t have a history of hip problems.

The Yankees aren’t exactly stacked with starting pitching depth at the moment. If Sabathia has to skip his next start (or be placed on the disabled list), then the Yankees could call up Domingo German, Chance Adams, or Luis Cessa. Adams might make the most sense because he pitched in Scranton tonight, but he did not fare well.

Fingers crossed that everything is okay with CC. As our own Greg Kirkland said, “Between Jacoby Ellsbury and CC, the Yankees’ hip specialist is working overtime.” We’ll update this story when the MRI results are in.