TAMPA, Fla. -- Carsten Sabathia threw two innings in a simulated game on Thursday and said he is ready to make his first start of the spring, scheduled for Tuesday against the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field.
"That was good today," Sabathia said. "Everything's been feeling good so far. The next step is to get in a game."
Sabathia faced Yankees prospects Miguel Andujar, Dustin Fowler and Jorge Mateo on a back diamond of the stadium complex, saying that his changeup and slider were both good and that his cutter is coming along. Domingo German and Jonathon Niese also pitched to the group.
The Yankees are taking some extra time with Sabathia, 36, who had arthroscopic surgery to clean up his right knee in early October. He was 9-12 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts last year, marking his lowest ERA since 2012 (3.38).
"I feel great. We came in just trying to get my work in, ready to go, and I feel like we've accomplished that so far," Sabathia said.
Bombers bits
• Rated as the No. 58 prospect in all of baseball by MLBPipeline.com, right-hander James Kaprielian said he understands why the Yankees want him to proceed at a "snail's pace," as general manager Brian Cashman put it.
"The biggest thing is, I'm extremely competitive," Kaprielian said. "It's tough to be sitting in the dugout every day and watch these guys work. I want to be out there with them and look behind me and see [Starlin] Castro and Gleyber [Torres] and Mateo and all these guys. Right now I'm just doing it from the dugout, which is fine."
Kaprielian is scheduled to throw a simulated game on Sunday. Because he missed most of 2016 to injury and then participated in the Arizona Fall League, he may not pitch in Grapefruit League action this spring, though it remains possible that he could see the Majors by the end of 2017.
• Manager Joe Girardi said he was OK with the series of rule modifications that have been approved and will be in place this season, saying that 30 seconds should be enough for a manager to initiate review in most instances and that the no-pitch intentional walk should speed up the game.
"When I think about replay, the idea is to get the call right," Girardi said. "I just hope that it doesn't have a situation where you run out of time and later on it costs you. That's the idea, to get the call right.
"[The no-pitch intentional walk] will just speed it up a little bit. That's a rule that doesn't bother me. It's not something that you practice all the time for pitchers and you don't necessarily want to get them out of a rhythm. I actually kind of like it."
• Yankees catcher Kellin Deglan has been diagnosed with a sore right shoulder and will not participate in the World Baseball Classic. Deglan, a non-roster invitee to big league camp, had been listed on Canada's roster for the tournament.