CC down, what now?

Before last night, the '17 Yankees had shrugged off four key injuries - Didi (month), Bird (six weeks), Sanchez (month) and Ellsbury (to be determined) - like King Kong swatting fighter planes out of the sky. We turned to Torreyes, Carter, Romine and Hicks, without dropping Fay Wray. In the case of Aaron Hicks, Ellsbury may never return as official Yankee CF; he's been replaced, even if nobody says it aloud. 

But last night, the formerly re-emerging CC Sabathia tweaked a hammy, which is probably the size of a mini-van, and today, we will learn the extent of his loss. Quick guess: Six weeks, counting rehab. That would bring him back around July 31, the trade deadline, when presumably we will be hungry for a veteran arm or two. Hopefully, the notion that CC is coming back will give us a reason not to trade for a Chris Capuano or Sidney Ponson. But let's face it: The front office is sniffing a divisional title, and the Gammonites will spend the next six weeks proposing ridiculous - and terrifying - deals.

Once again we face the brutal reality that baseball is pitching, pitching, pitching - (fun fact: eight of our top 10 draft picks over the last two days are RH pitchers) - and every fireballer in the modern era is a stutter-step from the DL, if not a visit to Dr. Andrews. In CC's case, he hasn't pitched a full, healthy season in four years, so we knew he'd miss a month - we had to factor it in, right? So... what now?

Chad Green? Adam Warren? Both play "long man" out of the bullpen, and Joe seems reluctant to change their roles (especially Warren, whose days as a promising future starter can barely be seen in the fossil record. Bryan Mitchell? You'd think he'd get a shot. Whatever happened to him? If not Mitchell, how about a call to Scranton? Here are the latest Railrider stats, ranked by innings pitched (because it's innings we will need): 

I know what you're thinking: Bring up Chance Adams, the 22-year-old wonder boy, with a sterling 2.52 ERA over six starts. But don't overlook Daniel Camarena, 24, and didn't Domingo German, also 24, impress everyone last weekend? Caleb Smith? Before you say, "Meh," keep in mind that he's 25, a big RH from Texas, and he hasn't had a clunker outing since April 30. 

I don't have the answer. But I do believe the solution is in Scranton, waiting for the chance. (No pun intended.) And I also believe the Yankees need to sit Tyler "The Yankee" Clippard for 10 days, because right now, the guy has lost his testosterone pumper. Two recent tough losses - against Toronto and last night - came with Clippard surrendering home runs. It's a long season. He'll get it back, I think. For now though...

Listen: We have one of the deepest minor league systems in baseball, with game-ready pitching prospects at Scranton. No Wally Whitehursts. These are actual up-and-coming pitchers, waiting for a shot. CC is down. That means an opportunity, not a death watch. But we also need a stretch of good health. Because Kong can swat away only so many planes, before he tumbles.