New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is ramping up his work down in Spring Training. He threw a 40-pitch bullpen session with catcher Gary Sanchez on Thursday—the longest he’s gone thus far this spring.
The Yankees are being tentative with their Japanese ace, who has a partially torn ligament in his throwing elbow. He spent two months on the disabled list last season but decided to forgo the idea of getting surgery to repair it.
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The Yankees are still hopeful he can avoid undergoing Tommy John surgery, and with good reason. Tanaka looked like a superstar during the first half of last season after signing a seven-year, $155 million. He returned in September, pitching with mixed results, shutting down the Toronto Blue Jays down but getting absolutely shellacked by the Boston Red Sox in his final two starts.
Tanaka finished the season 13-5 with a 2.77 ERA and 141 strikeouts in 136.1 innings pitched.
Obviously, the Yanks would love to have him for a full season and completely healthy. Without him, it’s unlikely the team could challenge for a playoff spot. He is the second youngest pitcher in the Yankees’ starting rotation at just 26 years old (Michael Pineda is also 26), and if he were to go down with injury, there is no one of even remotely similar quality who could replace him.
CC Sabathia has been hampered by injuries each of the last two seasons while showcasing dramatically dwindled abilities that are already cause for concern in the Bronx. Meanwhile, Pineda may have shown flashes of brilliance at times last season, but he has also been injury prone and inconsistent since his acquisition in 2012.
Behind these three pitchers, nothing else is certain in New York’s rotation. It’s assumed Nathan Eovaldi will be one of the team’s starting pitchers, but who else? The fifth-starter gig may look like it belongs to Chris Capuano, but Adam Warren could make a case for himself this spring.
For as great as the Yankees’ bullpen should be, it would be unfair to expect them to pick up the starting rotation’s slack every night out. The Yankees need Tanaka, if only to provide some reliability when the team is out in the field. There is no way to predict what the other starters will be able to give; they need Tanaka’s all for the full duration of the season. So while the road to full recovery might still be a ways off, this latest report is a very good sign for Tanaka and the Yankees.
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