If any one team needs its ace healthy and ready to pitch the entire season more than any other team does, it is the New York Yankees. After a second-straight injury-plagued season that saw the Yankees miss the postseason for the second straight year, the Yankees are counting on a healthy pitching staff, starting with their best, Masahiro Tanaka.
One of four starters to miss most or even all of 2014, Tanaka plans to return to the mound as the season begins ready to pitch. The good news is that following an offseason in which he continued to rest and rehab his right elbow, the one with the partially-torn UCL, the 2014 Rookie of the Year candidate has proclaimed that his elbow feels well as he prepares for Spring Training.
New Jersey.com's Brendan Kuty reports that Tanaka, speaking with the Japan Times last week, says that he has no pain in his elbow, indicating that he is ready for a full load when the Yankees' pitchers and catchers report to camp on Friday, February 20.
Tanaka missed nearly three full months from July to late September while rehabbing the injury. Speculation has it that he will eventually need Tommy John surgery, and MLB Network analysts recently said Tanaka is "one pitch away" from the procedure becoming a reality. Tanaka returned to the mound to pitch two solid outings, winning the first one, as the Yankees closed out the 2014 season.
In his interview with the Japan Times, Tanaka gave the following statement about his elbow and offseason program from his workouts with his former Nippan team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles. Said Tanaka,
“So far so good — including that (the elbow). Whether I’m the ace or I’m used in different roles within games, I’m always thinking I’m going to win, so I’m not going to change anything I do.... This year I hope to have the shortest offseason among all 30 big league clubs.”
That "shortest offseason" refers to the notion of pitching in the postseason this coming October. Last year, the Yankees missed the playoffs for only the third time since 1993 (not counting the 1994 postseason cancelation), and Tanaka hopes to help his team keep playing all through the World Series in 2015.
Overall, Tanaka finished last season with a record of 13-5 with a 2.77 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and 3.2 WAR in 20 starts. He also made the A.L. All-Star team. Until his injury, he was a leading candidate in the American League Rookie of the Year, Cy Young, and Most Valuable Player voting. Despite missing so much time, he still finished fifth in the voting for Rookie of the Year.
The Yankees signed the Japanese sensation to a seven-year, $155-million contract -- after paying a $20-million posting fee just for the rights to sign him. -- a year ago almost to the day. At age 26, he projects as an ace in pinstripes for the duration of his contract barring any further problems. Should he need the Tommy John surgery, though, he should have it done while still young enough to recover well and pitch like his contract dictates.
With that much invested in him -- and with the questions still remaining all throughout the rotation and lineup -- the Yankees will rely heavily on Tanaka. He says his elbow is ready, and the Yankees are certainly counting on it.