New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has been one of the team's top pitchers when he's healthy, but that has been an issue for the 27-year-old since arriving from Japan.
Tanaka suffered a slight tear in his ulnar collateral ligament in 2014, and instead of opting to have Tommy John surgery, decided to rest and rehab his elbow. Various arm injuries kept him out for a month of the 2015 season, and Tanaka knows that the only way quiet the fears surrounding the health of his elbow is to be successful.
"When you pitch a good game, you're the hero," he said, via the Wall Street Journal. "When you have a bad game, everyone says, 'Something's wrong with the elbow.' There's no way to handle it other than to just accept that's the way it's going to be. If you want to stop such talk, then you just have to go out and keep winning ballgames."
Tanaka signed a seven-year, $153 million deal with the Yankees in 2014, and he insists he's dead set on becoming the ace pitcher the team is hoping he becomes.
"I'm totally focused on that," he said. "That's where my thoughts are. I'm happy that we have three strong arms in the back of the bullpen, but I don't want to go into games with the mind-set that I'm going to need them to finish up for me."
Tanaka went 12-7 with a 3.51 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 24 appearances last season.
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