Andy Pettitte believes CC Sabathia will have successful 2016

Former New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte believes lefthander CC Sabathia will have a successful 2016 season, reports the Associated Press’s Mark Didtler.

“I know what he can do,” Pettitte, a former teammate of Sabathia’s, said at a camp for Yankees minor leaguers Monday. “I watched him too many times and the command that he has, and stuff like that. I say that because I felt like I was able to do that, and I think he’s better than I was. It makes it easy for me to say that.”

Sabathia checked into an alcohol rehabilitation center on Oct. 5 and missed his team’s American League wild-card loss against the Houston Astros.

“He seems to be doing good,” Pettitte said. “He’s got a great support group with his family, I know that. I just want to see him be successful, not only on the baseball field, but as a husband, as a dad and in life.”

Due to lingering knee problems, the 35-year-old started just 29 games for the Yankees in 2015, and went 6–10 with a 4.73 ERA.

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Sabathia is under contract with New York through at least 2016, with a vesting option for 2017.