SARASOTA, Fla. — CC Sabathia finally is getting close to being back on the mound.
“I’m looking forward to Thursday,” Sabathia said on Tuesday after a bullpen session at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. “I’m looking forward to really seeing what kind of progress I’ve made.”
The lefty said he’s scheduled to throw a simulated game Thursday — the same day Masahiro Tanaka will make his first start of spring training.
“Hopefully we both get good results,” Sabathia said.
For his part, Sabathia said he is confident he is ready for this next step.
“I’m good now,” Sabathia said. “I’ve faced hitters with no pain and since I’ve been pitching with a brace, it’s been reassuring.”
The brace on his right knee has continued to eliminate the pain in the surgically repaired knee to the point at which Sabathia said discomfort is no longer an issue when he’s pitching.
“I don’t think about it,” Sabathia said. “When my knee hurt, I thought about it every day; every time I pitched. It makes a huge difference not to worry about it.”
Now Sabathia will try to translate that into game action.
Chase Whitley gave up three walks and two hits, but managed to survive three innings without surrendering a run in three innings in a 3-1 loss to the Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium.
“I’ve had that [kind of] outing multiple times in years past and it didn’t go that way,” Whitley said. “I’d like to throw a few more strikes. I didn’t give in to hitters.”
Whitley’s role on the team is still undetermined, but he could be a candidate to fill David Phelps’ place as a long-man and spot starter.
Andrew Bailey, coming back from 2013 shoulder surgery, threw 20 pitches in a simulated game, his first action since July 2013. And he was pleased with the results.
“It was a big step,’’ said Bailey, who added the plan is to pitch in another simulated game on Saturday, leading up to an appearance in a spring training game.
“Things are really going well,” Bailey said. “I think I can help this team Day 1 and if it’s not Day 1, hopefully it’s at some point in time.’’
Alex Rodriguez had a light day on the backfields at GMS Field, where he took batting practice and some grounders at third.
As for any progress made at first base, where manager Joe Girardi would like him to get some work, Rodriguez said he has taken “baby steps.”
“We’ve done it about two or three times already,’’ said Rodriguez, adding that he came out of playing games on consecutive days fine.
Garrett Jones was scratched Tuesday. Girardi said the team believed Jones got food poisoning or the flu. … Brendan Ryan (back) did running drills and appeared to get through them OK.
— Additional reporting by Kevin Kernan
