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Yankees moving Sabathia to bullpen ahead of playoffs

Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox / Getty Images Sport / Getty

CC Sabathia will spend the final days of his career in an unfamiliar role.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced Friday that Sabathia will be moved to the bullpen for the rest of the regular season in order to prepare him for a relief role during the playoffs, according to Randy Miller of NJ.com.

The soon-to-be-retired left-hander will pitch twice in relief during the season's final week as part of the preparation, Boone said.

All of Sabathia's 560 regular season major-league appearances to date have been starts. His lone relief outing at any level came in Game 5 of the 2011 ALDS against the Detroit Tigers. Sabathia entered in the fifth inning and allowed one run over 1 1/3 frames in a game the Yankees went on to lose.

The 39-year-old's farewell season has been cut short by an ongoing knee issue that's resulted in multiple stints on the injured list. When healthy, Sabathia's pitched to a 4.99 ERA, 5.73 FIP, and 1.42 WHIP with 105 strikeouts and 39 walks over 22 starts. Earlier this season, he became the 17th pitcher and third left-hander in history to record 3,000 strikeouts.

The Yankees clinched their first AL East title since 2012 and second consecutive 100-win season on Thursday. Game 1 of their Division Series is scheduled to begin on Oct. 4.

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