TAMPA — The Yankees obviously would like to have Masahiro Tanaka healthy enough and ready to pitch Opening Day.
However, after two bullpen sessions inside a week at George M. Steinbrenner Field, it’s not a lock the ace will face the Astros in the first game of the season on April 4.
“I really don’t know right now. I have taken the schedule out a little ways, but with guys like him I would rather see each progression and not put a timetable on it,’’ pitching coach Larry Rothschild said following Tanaka’s 31-pitch bullpen session Monday morning. “We will progress him and obviously it’s a real possibility, but until I get down the path a little bit, I am not going to know that.’’
Tanaka had a bone spur removed from the right elbow last October. He had spent more than a month on the DL with a right forearm strain and wrist tendinitis, missing all of May, then was out Sept. 18 to Sept. 30 with a hamstring injury. He started and lost the AL wild-card game, 3-0, to the Astros.
And of course, he worked all of 2015 with a small tear in the right ulnar collateral ligament which surfaced the previous season, though he avoided Tommy John surgery.
Like Rothschild and Joe Girardi, Tanaka doesn’t know if he will be on the mound versus the Astros.
As for the elbow, Tanaka said, “It’s clearly better than pre-surgery.’’
Girardi said he hasn’t even decided on a spring training rotation, never mind one for the regular season.
“In a normal spring training, if you knew where everyone was supposed to be, it’s usually mapped out before you even get to camp,’’ Girardi said of the regular-season rotation. “Unless there is a competition, number one. Two, unless there are people coming off injuries and you are not sure exactly where they are at. I think we are more in the latter where you are not exactly sure and you want to see where guys are at and you go from there. Let’s see where we are at before we map it out.’’
Of the six candidates for five spots, five spent time on the DL last season. Luis Severino avoided the shelf, but he only made 11 starts after being elevated from Triple-A on Aug. 5.
Because Tanaka had the spur removed in October, that situation has received the most attention. But the tear in the UCL has to be taken into account.
“You have to be aware of what he went through two years ago, but hopefully it’s behind us,’’ Rothschild said of the elbow ligament. “I look at it positively, so as long as we keep progressing and keep going, we will get him ready.’’
While it’s very early in the process, it’s been smooth for Tanaka, who went 12-7 with a 3.51 ERA in 24 starts last year.
“So far no hitches or anything, so we will keep progressing, hopefully it stays that way,’’ said Rothschild who didn’t have a date for Tanaka to face hitters.