Masahiro Tanaka missed a large chunk of the 2014 season with a partially torn UCL, an injury that usually requires Tommy John surgery. Tanaka elected to forego the operation and rehab himself, which apparently worked. He made the final two starts of the 2014 season and made it through this training camp to Opening Day.
The thing is, Tanaka got beat up on Opening Day, something that rarely happened last year. He lasted just four innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on 82 pitches. He struck out six and walked two, but his pitch selection was the talk of the Bronx.
Tanaka showed decreased velocity, and was relying much more on his vaunted splitter and other breaking pitches rather than his four-seam fastball. The early speculation is that he is altering his style to avoid stressing his injured elbow, and it's causing concern that he may have been more wise to just get the surgery last season. Manager Joe Girardi reacted testily to concerns about Tanaka's velocity and played the "it's early" card.
"Well, let's just wait and see what happens before everyone talks about [his velocity]," Girardi said. "I mean, his velocity was 93, 94 the first game. It was there that day. Let's just see what happens. There's so much talk about it, but until guys get out there, it's speculation."
However, before making his Opening Day start Tanaka admitted himself that he planned to throw more two-seam fastballs. "I'm trying to establish a certain pitching style for this year," he said Sunday. "Maybe it's not the wisest to ask for velocity from me this year."
Making too much out of a single start can be treacherous, so the Yankees will wait until Tanaka has built up a larger sample size for 2015 before evaluating the situation with his elbow. It's a scary thought that he may need Tommy John though, which would knock him out for the remainder of this season and potentially a sizable portion of 2016.
The Yankees' offense is not built to score at will this year, and the rotation is shaky regarding health behind him. CC Sabathia made just eight starts last season, while Michael Pineda has never pitched more than 171 innings.
[ESPN]
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