CC Sabathia Confirmed to Return to Yankees Rotation Tonight

New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia is finally returning to the rotation tonight.

According to the Yankees' official Twitter feed, the superstar pitcher will make his much-heralded return to the mound on Friday night against the Cleveland Indians.

"

#Yankees lineup @ Indians: Jeter SS, Swisher RF, Cano 2B, Teixeira 1B, Granderson CF, Chavez 3B, Martin C, Ibanez DH, Ichiro LF, Sabathia P

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 24, 2012"

Sabathia correctly predicted on Wednesday that he would be ready to go for this game, according to Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York.

"Ask [manager] Joe [Girardi], but I'm pretty sure that I'm pitching on Friday," Sabathia said. "I threw all my pitches today and I feel pretty good, so we'll just go from there."

It’s been a long time since CC pitched in a competitive game. Back on August 8, the 6’7”, 290-pound hurler lasted just 6.2 innings before sitting down. The team announced his disabled-list stint shortly after, dating it to August 9.

Sabathia was 12-3 on the season with a 3.56 ERA and 140 strikeouts in 20 appearances. He’s coming back at the perfect time, considering the Yankees are just ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles in the AL East pennant race.

New York has lost four of their last five contests and sorely needs a good series on the road in Cleveland against the Indians – ironically, the team that Sabathia started his career with and played for over eight seasons.

The game begins at 7:05 p.m. ET, and the big pitcher sounds confident that he will be just fine after more than a month-and-a-half of rehabilitation. 

Sabathia told the Yankees' official website on Tuesday:

"

It's a big relief that I can go out and throw all my pitches and not be hindered by anything, or feel like I can't throw (a) pitch because it might hurt...I have none of that, and today just confirmed that. I feel good about going out there on Friday.

"

You’ll definitely want to tune in to catch the Yankees taking on the Indians at Progressive Field to see CC Sabathia’s triumphant return to the mound.