Injured Tanaka Decides To Skip All-Star Festivities

Jun 28, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (19) delivers a pitch during the ninth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Boston Red Sox won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Everything was smooth sailing for rookie Masahiro Tanaka until his MRI results came back with a diagnostic of a partial tear of ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Not only did this land him a spot on the disabled list, but it has cost him to not be able to attend something really special that he earned.

After being voted to the All-Star game and then learning about his injury, Tanaka decided to skip the events and focus on his rehab. In his letter that was recently shared with baseball a few days ago, he touched on how sorry he was that he will not be able to pitch for quite some time. This only gives him motivation to start preparing for his return, and everyone is holding their breath that rehab will do its job.

On Monday, Tanaka will have a platelet-rich plasma injection to start treating that UCL tear. They will then see if this is working, and what the next step will be after that.

In the mean time, the Yankees will continue to scramble to attempt and find a replacement starting pitcher for Tanaka. Shane Greene could be an option, as the youngster had an extremely impressive outing yesterday in a 3-0 victory over the Orioles. The newest Yankee Jeff Francis could also be thrown in the mix somewhere.

It doesn’t matter how Joe Girardi decides to do it. All the Yankees need to worry about at this point is getting quality pitching out of their starters, and getting some more wins in the left hand column.