Yankees place CC Sabathia on 15-day DL with knee inflammation

NEW YORK -- CC Sabathia may have thrown his last pitch for the New York Yankees in the 2015 season, and perhaps beyond that as well.

The team placed the 35-year-old former Cy Young Award winner on the 15-day disabled list with knee inflammation on Monday, and manager Joe Girardi acknowledged the possibility that Sabathia is done for the season.

"Is it possible that he doesn't pitch the rest of the year? It's a possibility," Girardi said.

Sabathia, who is struggling through the worst season of his career with a 4-9 record and 5.27 ERA, left in the third inning of Sunday's start against the Cleveland Indians. He underwent an MRI on his right knee, which has troubled him all season, and while the Yankees did not provide a diagnosis, it is known that Sabathia suffers from a degenerative condition in the knee that nearly caused him to undergo potentially career-ending microfracture surgery last season.

"The MRI really didn't show any changes from before," Girardi said. "But obviously he's pretty sore, or he wouldn't have come out of the game yesterday."

Sabathia missed most of last season with knee problems and opted for a less-invasive clean-out procedure last July. He has had the knee drained twice this season, most recently in June, after which he was skipped for a start. He has not won a game since July 8.

"It's been maintenance all year long for us," Girardi said. "We knew that going in, and we knew it could rear its ugly head. There were times where he had some shots before and was able to pitch and it didn't seem to be an issue. But we knew it would take a lot to get him through the season, and I felt like we were pretty lucky up until [Sunday]."

Sabathia had made 24 starts this season -- he made only eight in 2014, going 3-4 with a 5.28 ERA before going on the DL on May 11 -- and Girardi could give no timetable for a possible return. He said Sabathia, who did not speak to reporters before Monday night's game against the Houston Astros, would not accompany the team on its upcoming road trip to Atlanta and Boston beginning on Friday.

Sabathia, who was an integral part of the Yankees' 2009 World Championship team and has a record of 95-55 with a 3.77 ERA in seven season as a Yankee, is signed through the 2016 season, for which he is owed $25 million. He also has a vesting option for 2017 that will pay him an additional $25 million.

But it is problematic whether Sabathia will ever be able to pitch again for the Yankees. Despite a rigorous offseason workout program and diligent in-season maintenance, Sabathia broke down after 24 starts -- he said on Sunday he has been pitching through pain for the past month -- and when asked what the Yankees could do differently next season to make Sabathia an effective pitcher again, Girardi had no answer.

"I'm not sure. That's something for the doctors to determine," Girardi said. "Possibly a different brace that you can pitch [with]. There's a lot of things that I'm sure they will try to figure out and try to get him back on the field and get it to where he feels better, but I'm not really sure."