Sabathia to remove minibar from hotel rooms on road trips

New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia said he felt "physically and mentally stronger than ever" in early March following a highly publicized stint in rehab for alcoholism, but the six-time All-Star still intends to take some extra steps this season to avoid a relapse.

"When I go on the road, I'll have the minibar taken out," Sabathia said in an exclusive interview with VICE Sports. "But there's different things that I can do now: go back to my room; read; I have different things on my computer that I can do; hang out with my teammates; I play a lot of video games. I kind of got away from that because I would just run back to my room and look for the next drink."

Sabathia, who checked himself into rehab the day before his team played the Houston Astros for the 2015 American League wild card, hasn't yet been assured a spot in New York's rotation, but said Monday he's "assuming" they won't send him to the bullpen. Either way, the former Cy Young Award winner is committed to the club's No. 1 goal - "getting to the playoffs," he said - just as he's committed to staying sober.

"1000 percent, I feel like I've gotten a second chance and I'm not going to mess that up," Sabathia said. "I know people talk about how hard it is and things like that, but there's no way I'm putting my family back through that. There's no way I'm picking up another drink."