CC Sabathia made his spring debut Tuesday evening, pitching in a Yankees uniform for the first time since being sidelined with a knee injury last May.
The 34-year-old left-hander took the loss as the Yankees fell to the Blue Jays, 4-2, but he was happy with his two-inning performance as he fought some rare jitters.
MORE: A look at 10 years of PED suspensions | Beane to advise Dutch soccer club | Boras challenges Cubs to bring Kris Bryant north
"I was really nervous (coming into the game)," Sabathia said, per NJ.com's Ryan Hatch. "More so than normal. That was kind of weird but I think it's just me being back out here and wanting to be with my teammates and it being my first game."
Sabathia threw a perfect first inning that included a strikeout of Josh Donaldson, but ran into trouble in the second.
He allowed a leadoff single to Dioner Navarro and later gave up two-out RBI hits to Dayan Viciedo and Devon Travis. In all, he allowed two runs (both earned) on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.
"You don't want to give up runs, but it's spring training, it is what it is," Sabathia said, according to Hatch. "Being able to go at 100 percent, full effort, and to be able to let the ball go and know that I'm not going to feel anything, and I know where the ball's going, it felt good."
Yankees manager Joe Girardi echoed that sentiment.
"Really pleased. It was the first step and it was really positive," Girardi said, according to NJ.com. "I'm not concerned about the runs. He's coming off the mound healthy."
The New York Daily News' Mark Feinsand reported that Sabathia was throwing his fastball in the high 80s and low 90s.
Scout just told me he had Sabathia clocked at 90-92 mph during the first inning, average 91 mph. That's worlds ahead of where he was in '14.
— Mark Feinsand (@FeinsandNYDN) March 17, 2015Scout's radar gun in second inning had Sabathia's fastball at 89-92, avg 90/91. Again, good sign for his first start of the spring.
— Mark Feinsand (@FeinsandNYDN) March 17, 2015It's still not clear whether Sabathia will be ready to start on opening day, but that isn't his priority right now.
"I can't say it's going to make or break me if I start opening day," Sabathia told the media." I mean, I've done it a lot. I just want to be there in September, or Game 1 of whatever playoff series."