Doubtful Cc Will Be Back Before Trade Deadline

“…Between expected innings limits and unexpected injuries, we’re going to be losing more pitchers in this rotation before this season’s over,  you can bank on it.”

Thanks to Chris Carter missing an easy head-high throw from Didi Gregorious any hot dog vendor in the stands could’ve caught in a bun with mustard, relish and kraut, CC Sabathia was forced to pitch an extra 9 pitches Tuesday to close out an extended 4th inning and wound up with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring.

First,  it’s my opinion that he big guy is unemployable anywhere else. His niche as a steady innings-eater on this team as currently constituted has value though. And while he’d never be part of any playoff rotation if the Yankees got that far in this, his final season, the team must resist any temptation to rush him back any  sooner than necessary lest they risk losing the remaining innings he may have left in him for the second half stretch run.

Severino’s been a nice surprise; even a possible solid  #2 at this point. But an ace who’s only pitched beyond the 7th twice? Don’t even go there.

Third, Tanaka to date has still declined to see a specialist, undergo an MRI or even concede he’s feeling any differently than, say, before his elbow is was hanging on by a partially torn UCL, willpower and a magic 8-ball.  And Monday’s 6.2-inning no-decision vs. the Angels didn’t prove anything definitive as he remains 1-5 with a 10.13 ERA in seven starts against opponents with winning percentages of .500-plus compared to 4-1 with a 2.88 ERA in six starts against sub-.500 clubs. (Thanks to Mike Mazzeo at the Daily News for those chilling numbers.) Now it seems he can only pitch on at least six days rest. (Remember in Japan he only pitched once a week and has said he prefers higher pitch counts and more rest days.) He remains a starter in name only until evidence suggests otherwise and may actually be moving the team toward a six-starter rotation by default if he can no longer go on five days rest.

Meanwhile, the losses mount and  opportunities to run away from the division keep slipping away because the bullpen that was supposed to be the bulwark against the team’s thin rotation and short starts is “pretty fried,” said Joe before Thursday night’s LA series finale — and just a few hours later it flared up in the frying pan and burned yet another winnable Yankee win and series to a cinder…

If you’re one of the great worriers about playing poker with the team’s future to win a championship now, get over it. Hicks has made Clint Frazier 150 percent expendable. That’s one nice juicy trade chip we can lose right there. And he’s not even  the best outfield prospect we’ve got.