The Yankees will have CC Sabathia on a light schedule this season.

He is expected to make just three spring starts with his first not coming until March 15, just 17 days until Opening day.

Sabathia threw 46 pitches in what Yankees manager Joe Girardi called a live batting practice Thursday morning at Steinbrenner Field, and is penciled in to throw a simulated game on March 5.

New York is confident that Sabathia knows how to prepare for the season.