Yankees Masahiro Tanaka Already Behind in Workouts

According to George King III of the New York Post, the Yankees $175 million investment Masahiro Tanaka is already behind in spring training.

"“He will enter spring training maybe a little behind for precautionary reasons,’’ Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday night at NYY Steak in NYC where Cashman and Red Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski hosted a joint charity event benefiting their respective organizations. “He may be behind going off the bullpen from the beginning, but he is healthy. There are no issues, there are no hiccups.”"

In 2015 the 27-year old ace was placed on the disabled list with a right forearm strain and tendinitis in his pitching wrist last April and didn’t return until June 3rd. A few months later he was again placed on the DL with a strained hamstring and remained sidelined from September 19th – 30th during a critical playoff stretch for the Yankees.

In 2014 he suffered a slight tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his pitching elbow and he famously elected to not get surgery on it. Instead, Tanaka elected to use rest and rehabilitation to mend the tear, running the risk of future injury.

The good news is Tanaka is healthy and threw on flat ground at Yankee Stadium this week and is expected to join his teammates in Tampa on Friday for Spring Training.

While injury concerns surround just about the entire Yankees starting rotation, the medical staff needs to be extra cautious when it comes to Tanaka. Outside of their no.1 starter, the Yankees don’t really have a qualified pitcher who can step up and be an ace.

Sure the soon-to-be 22-year old Luis Severino can one day be the Yankees ace, but until the right-hander gets more than 62.1 innings under his belt in a single season it remains to be seen. Michael Pineda has yet to pitch an entire season without breaking down and the flame throwing Nathan Eovaldi is still a question mark after going down with a season ending injury in his pitching arm last season.

Theres no doubt that if the Yankees pitching staff remains healthy, especially their ace Masahiro Tanaka, they can compete in the American League East. If not, the Yankees will certainly find themselves in trouble, and probably left wondering why Cashman didn’t pursue a qualified ace this winter.