He is set to pitch Wednesday against the Red Sox in preparation for his postseason appearance. “We wanted to make sure that he felt good and he could go through all the things that he needed to go through”. New York (86-69) sits four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays with seven games left in the regular season, but remains a comfortable five ahead of the Los Angeles Angels, who sit third in the AL wild-card standings.
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Manager Joe Girardi has lined up Michael Pineda to start Tuesday night’s game against the Red Sox.
“If that was the case, I probably wouldn’t be back”, Tanaka said.
Tanaka noted that if he had any physical restrictions that he would not likely be pitching whatsoever, so he views it as a positive that he is able to get out on the mound before the season ends. “But yes, I’m relieved and happy to be out there”.
Last Monday, Tanaka threw on flat ground. But with the Tanaka announcement, he didn’t much try to hide the teams plans when asked if the start was with October. 6 in mind.
“(The hamstring) is a little bit of a concern”, Girardi said.
“I think we all wanted to get to this day”, Girardi said.
Now in his second season with the Yankees, Tanaka is facing lingering questions about a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow after not having Tommy John surgery previous year. “He’s passed all those hurdles”.
Tanaka is 12-7 with a 3.38 ERA in 23 starts and has pitched 149 innings.
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The 26-year-old previously missed six weeks earlier this season with forearm and wrist injuries.
