One of the biggest questions surrounding the New York Yankees as they enter the final days of the regular season is this: What's up with CC Sabathia?

Sabathia takes the mound on Friday in the opener of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics.

And Joe Girardi hopes that by the time Sabathia steps off the mound, the questions surrounding his ace will be put to rest.

"I think we'd all look forward to that, that'd be great," he said.

For now, though, the questions persist.

The lefty is 0-3 in his past four outings with a 4.67 ERA. In his previous nine starts, Sabathia went 6-0 with a 3.25 ERA.

Sabathia insists he isn't hurt. So, some have started to wonder if all of the innings over the years have started to catch up with him.

Girardi, however, remains confident that Sabathia will turn things around.

"I have a lot of faith in CC, that he'll figure this out and get things righted," the manager said. "It's weird. CC goes six innings, seven innings and he gives up three runs and we say, 'What's wrong with CC?'

"He still pitched OK. It's just not what we've seen the previous years that we've been here. We need him to get on a roll, and tomorrow would be a good day to start."

Question: Do you have confidence that Sabathia can turn it around?

Up Now: Be sure to check Andrew Marchand's column on Ichiro Suzuki. We also have a post on Andy Pettitte's health, the possibility of Brett Gardner getting activated and Andruw Jones' struggles.

On Deck: Sabathia takes the mound in the series opener against Oakland on Friday. The big lefty will oppose Oakland righty Jarrod Parker (11-8, 3.51 ERA). Ivan Nova (12-7, 4.85 ERA) faces lefty Travis Blackley (5-3, 3.36 ERA) on Saturday. In the finale on Sunday, it's Hiroki Kuroda (14-10, 3.26) vs. RHP A.J. Griffin (6-1, 2.45).