New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has suffered a flexor mass injury, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reported Thursday.
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Tanaka to Miss Monday’s Start
Thursday, Sept. 22
Feinsand reported Tanaka, who will miss his scheduled start Monday, won’t throw for five days as he recovers from the injury.
This is another setback for the injury-prone pitcher, which is particularly worrisome for a Yankees team that’s relying on him to be the ace of the staff as it fights for a postseason berth.
He underwent elbow surgery in October 2015 to remove a bone spur and was on the disabled list from April 23 to June 3 last season with right wrist tendinitis and a forearm strain. He missed another start down the stretch in September 2015 because of a strained right hamstring.
Tanaka could have had surgery after suffering a partially torn elbow ligament in 2014, but he decided against it.
The right-hander tallied 24 starts in 2015, posting a 12-7 record, a 3.51 ERA, and 139 strikeouts in 154 innings. He also finished with an impressive 0.99 WHIP and 3.1 WAR, according to ESPN.com. In 2016, he’s 14-4 with a 3.07 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP and 165 strikeouts in 199.2 innings pitched.
While injuries have prevented him from living up to the astronomical hype that surrounded him when New York signed him before the 2014 campaign, he is the anchor of the Yankees pitching staff when healthy. He has struggled to keep the ball in the park, allowing 62 home runs in his first three seasons, but his 1.08 WHIP makes the ace valuable at the front end of the rotation.
New York will have to rely on pitchers such as Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia in the meantime. It also has a formidable bullpen with pieces such as Adam Warren and Dellin Betances to help shorten games until Tanaka is ready to return.
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