The wait-and-see approach to Tommy John surgery for New York Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka may be working. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman revealed Wednesday that the right-hander is still feeling pain in his pitching elbow despite not picking up a baseball in 10 days, but it has been decreasing as the days go by.
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"He's improved, but he still feels it, although on a daily basis it decreases," Cashman said on The Michael Kay Show. "So that's good but it's not good that he's still feeling it at this stage. So it's just day-by-day, week-by-week and we'll adjust accordingly. It's too early to call."
Tanaka was diagnosed with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament via an MRI after a subpar performance against the Cleveland Indians on July 8 when he complained of elbow pain. Tanaka was not his usual self during that outing, yielding five earned runs on 10 hits in 6.2 innings.
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Tanaka was then treated by several doctors, who each suggested that the tear was small and that he should receive a PRP injection followed by a six-week throwing program and not go for Tommy John surgery right away.
Cashman has stood by the decision to stave off the surgery since it would cost the Yankees' ace to miss at least a year and possibly more, and there is no telling if he'd be the same lights-out pitcher upon his return.
"We get directed by what our medical experts say," Cashman said. "It was a unanimous decision and none of them recommended surgery. There's no guarantee that Tanaka, if he has the surgery, will be back to what he was."
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said it would take Tanaka a minimum of three more weeks to figure out if the throwing program and treatment are working positively.
"He said he feels better," Girardi said via ESPN. "But I don't think you really know how he's doing until you get him on a mound and you start going forward."
Tanaka signed a seven-year, $155 million contract this winter after the Yankees posted a $20 million posting fee to his former team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Baseball League, in and he was worth every penny, becoming an early favorite for the American League Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards, before posting an ERA of 4.25 over his last four starts.
Tanaka landing on the disabled list meant that he was the fourth pitcher of the five starters on the Yankees Opening Day roster to miss time. Cashman is expected to plug holes in the rotation before the July 31 MLB non-waiver trade deadline, and he believes there are a lot of voids he needs to fill.
"This year we have a lot more areas of weakness than we're used to," Cashman said.
Tanaka is 12-4 this season with a 2.51 ERA and 135 strikeouts, but it remains to be seen if he'll take the mound for the Yankees again this season.
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