Yankees News: Masahiro Tanaka not letting elbow ruin strong spring

By Caleb Gebrewold | Mar 22, 2015

When the New York Yankees inked Masahiro Tanaka to a seven-year deal worth $155 million, they didn’t envision that he would partially tear the UCL in his right elbow half way through his first season. More likely is that they envisioned he would pitch like an ace, as he did before the injury. Any pitch could be Tanaka’s last for a very long time, yet he is not letting that get to him.

After making his second start of the spring, in which he threw 3.2 innings allowing only two hits and no walks while striking out three, and not allowing a run, Tanaka felt fine, according to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post, as the Yankees ace stated “I think it was as good as my first start”.

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Atlanta Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who had one of the two hits against Tanaka, also felt the Yankee star looked fine out there:

"If it wasn’t made a big deal because of who he is, I mean, I never would’ve gone up there saying, ‘This guy has got a bad elbow’. It looked like it was coming out of his hand fine. He threw me a couple of good sinkers and he threw me a backdoor slider, and another slide, I got the hit up the middle. He looked the same. I didn’t see a difference. I didn’t see a split, so that’s his pitch, obviously."

Joe Girardi repeated his earlier statement in that he will not worry about Tanaka until something happens:

"I told you, if I’m going to be on the edge of my seat every pitch, it’s going to be a long season. That’s the way it’s going to be. He appears to be healthy. He’s throwing the ball well. You just keep running him out there, keep building him up."

While Tanaka’s elbow is worrisome, Girardi’s approach is the right one. Any pitcher, or player for that matter, on this veteran roster could go down at any time. Tanaka is obviously one of the most important pieces to the Yankees, but a manager can’t spend his time worrying about what-ifs that haven’t happened, and aren’t guaranteed to happen.

The elbow issue may be in the back of Tanaka’s mind, but if he is to return to his pre-injury success, then that is where it must remain. At some point, it is likely that Tanaka’s elbow will require surgery. Until then, the Yankees should not allow the issue to spoil the success that he has.

Next: Who should be the New York Yankees Opening Day starter?

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