Yankees News: Masahiro Tanaka Shines In First Rehab Game

With the New York Yankees in the midst of a losing skid, help is nearly on the way. Masahiro Tanaka had his first real rehab start since landing on the DL last month. Pitching for the AAA RailRiders, Tanaka threw three scoreless innings.

Tanaka missed almost the entire second half of the 2014 season after discovering a slight tear in his pitching elbow. Rather than get Tommy John surgery, Tanaka didn’t pitch and now the Yankees are in a constant state of fear over every pitch he throws possibly being the last one for 12-18 months.

He gave up 2 hits in his three innings of work, while striking out two and staying in the low 90s with his fastball. Tanaka used all his pitches, showing he isn’t staying away from his slider or his splitter. After the game, according to the New York Post, Tanaka said, “I felt pretty good out there. I was able to use all my pitches. So I felt pretty good…It was not necessarily different from how I usually go into a game. I was looking to obviously pitch all my pitches with force, and I think that I was able to do that tonight.”

Tanaka continued, “I feel pretty confident about all the pitches…as far as going back into a game, I think I am able to do that smoothly.” Today is a big test, to see how he feels the day after his outing.

As the calendar nears June, the Yankees just lost its hold of first place in the AL East thanks to losing three straight and seven of its last eight games. Michael Pineda has looked fantastic and CC Sabathia is beginning to show promising signs of at least being a serviceable pitcher.

Chase Whitley just had Tommy John surgery this past week, leaving the Yankees short once again. Being able to get Tanaka back soon, and staying healthy the rest of the year, will be very important to the Yankees’ potential for taking the 2015 AL East crown.