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BALTIMORE -- Some enterprising heating-pad company might want to contact CC Sabathia for an endorsement. The Yankees ace vows to continue using the product until the weather warms up.
Television cameras caught Sabathia placing a heating pad on his midsection during his Opening Day start on Monday against the Orioles, when the left-hander lasted just 4 1/3 innings and did not strike out a batter.
The underwhelming outing sparked concerns that Sabathia may have been guarding an injury, but he reiterated on Wednesday that he is not hurt. Instead, Sabathia said he's using the heating pads to avoid a recurrence of an oblique injury that last occurred in 2006.
"The heating pad will be there for the next couple of months," Sabathia said. "I guess it could freak people out if they've never seen me do it. But it is something that I do all the time."
Sabathia said he had his first oblique injury in Spring Training 2005, and he has not been bothered since Opening Day 2006.
"He's had some issues in years past, and he says it's just preventative," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He didn't use it in Spring Training, because it was 80 degrees every day. It's not going to be that case in April."
The temperature at first pitch on Monday was at 56 degrees after it rained most of the day in Baltimore.
Sabathia watched video of the start after Monday's game, and he explained his brief outing as the end result of not being able to command his fastball, something he worked on in a bullpen session at Camden Yards on Wednesday. His second start as a Yankee will come on Saturday in Kansas City.
"With me, whether I pitch good or bad, after the game's over, it's over," Sabathia said. "I just look to the next start and the next bullpen [session]."
Television cameras caught Sabathia placing a heating pad on his midsection during his Opening Day start on Monday against the Orioles, when the left-hander lasted just 4 1/3 innings and did not strike out a batter.
The underwhelming outing sparked concerns that Sabathia may have been guarding an injury, but he reiterated on Wednesday that he is not hurt. Instead, Sabathia said he's using the heating pads to avoid a recurrence of an oblique injury that last occurred in 2006.
"The heating pad will be there for the next couple of months," Sabathia said. "I guess it could freak people out if they've never seen me do it. But it is something that I do all the time."
Sabathia said he had his first oblique injury in Spring Training 2005, and he has not been bothered since Opening Day 2006.
"He's had some issues in years past, and he says it's just preventative," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He didn't use it in Spring Training, because it was 80 degrees every day. It's not going to be that case in April."
The temperature at first pitch on Monday was at 56 degrees after it rained most of the day in Baltimore.
Sabathia watched video of the start after Monday's game, and he explained his brief outing as the end result of not being able to command his fastball, something he worked on in a bullpen session at Camden Yards on Wednesday. His second start as a Yankee will come on Saturday in Kansas City.
"With me, whether I pitch good or bad, after the game's over, it's over," Sabathia said. "I just look to the next start and the next bullpen [session]."
