There are plenty of questions surrounding the New York Yankees pitching rotation in 2015, but the status of starters Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia doesn't look like it'll be one of them.
Tanaka partially tore the UCL in his right elbow last season, and barely managed to avoid Tommy John surgery as he recovered. While he was able to return to action after a PRP shot and six weeks of rest, there was no guaranteeing what his status would be going into 2015. According to Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild, things are looking up:
“So far he’s felt good,” Rothschild told the Associated Press on Monday. “He’s had a good winter.”
“The last start he didn’t pitch well (referring to his final game of the season against the Boston Red Sox, when Tanaka gave up 7 runs (5 earned) in 1.2 innings of action), but he didn’t feel bad,” Rothschild said. “We’ve got to manage a few guys in spring training and try and get them through healthy, and he’s one of them.”
Tanaka is entering year two of a $155 million, seven-year contract he signed last January.
As for Sabathia, the news is also positive. Like Tanaka, Sabathia narrowly avoided serious surgery, although his problem was with his knee, not his throwing arm. Sabathia's right knee started giving him serious trouble last May, and things reached a point last summer where it looked like his only option was microfracture surgery - a potentially career-ending procedure. Swelling decreased after rest and another (non-microfracture) surgical procedure, and Sabathia got the all-clear to return in 2015. Still, there were (and still are) questions about his durability and readiness.
The Yankees are going to ease Sabathia back into action while trying not to overload the player, who has only pitched 37 innings since 2013. Rothschild was a bit less effusive about Sabathia's progress, but the fact that he's ready to get back on the mound (even in a rehab setting) is positive considering how bad things looked last Summer.
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