CLEVELAND -- C.C. Sabathia is one of the few Cleveland pitchers to avoid the disabled list the past three years. That might change soon.

Sabathia had his injured left elbow examined by doctors Sunday, one day after he was forced to leave a start in the seventh inning at Kansas City.

Indians general manager Mark Shapiro declined to comment on the extent of Sabathia's injury.

"I'm not going to say anything without having anything (reports) in front of me,'' Shapiro said.

The 22-year-old Sabathia thought he hyperextended his elbow on his 107th pitch Saturday in a 3-1 loss to the Royals.

"I tried to reach back and get a little extra on that last pitch and probably reached back too far and got too much,'' said Sabathia, who insisted he wasn't in pain and would make his next start.

Sabathia has 30 wins in his first two big league seasons, and he hasn't missed any of his 66 starts.

Cleveland's ace hasn't been on the DL yet in the majors, but Sabathia did have an elbow problem in the minor leagues.

After being drafted in 1998, the 6-foot-7 left-hander missed the first 2½ months of the 1999 season with a bone bruise in his elbow. He went 5-3 and made 16 starts that season, and hasn't had any known arm problems since.

Sabathia was moved up one day in the rotation to make Saturday's start after Jason Bere was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

Bere is expected to be out a month.

The Indians have a couple of options if Sabathia has to go on the DL.

Dave Burba, who accepted a minor league assignment with Triple-A Buffalo last week, could be brought up. Burba pitched well during spring training, but the Indians didn't have a roster spot for him.

Jason Phillips, also pitching with the Bisons, is another possibility. He started six games for Cleveland last season.