Slideshow: How Does The Yankees’ Health Control 2015?

Masahiro Tanaka’s elbow can be the fight/flight of the pitching rotation

The 25-year old came into Yankees’ camp in 2014 surrounded by giant stories. There were the amount of innings he threw in a single season, the pitching on short rest, his competitive spirit, and his unreal statistics.

He did not disappoint in his first season in pinstripes by going 13-5 with a 2.77 ERA. He also posted a 9.3 K/9 and was elected to the All-Star game because of his stellar first half. While he looked like the competitor to Jose Abreu for American League Rookie of the Year, he ended up finishing fifth in voting.

Tanaka was thrown off track which led to him falling out of line for Rookie of the Year. He was side lined with a partially torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL). A torn UCL leads to Tommy John surgery so with a partial tear both the Yankees and Tanaka decided it was best he be shut down.

He went a strict rehab and throwing regiment after being shut down in July and made a come back at the end of the season. When Tanaka was healthy he looked like an ace; the Yankees need to hold their breath that Tanaka stays healthy so that they have someone to carry their pitching in 2015. Hopefully he can throw more than 136.1 innings and avoid elbow problems.