New York Yankees: Masahiro Tanaka Takes Ball to Head
During Summer Camp on Saturday, New York Yankees’ pitcher, Masahiro Tanaka took a line drive to the head off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton.
On Saturday afternoon, the New York Yankees were practicing at Yankee Stadium when Masahiro Tanaka took a line drive to the head off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton. The good news is Tanaka was able to walk off the field, but what does this mean for the Yankees heading into the season?
Masahiro Tanaka took a line drive to the head off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton.
— Empire Writes Back (@EmpireWritesBck) July 4, 2020
Updates to come. pic.twitter.com/ZASoDx8MVF
As you can see, there was no net in front of the mound, but it doesn’t appear that a net really would’ve stopped this from happening. This was simply a freak accident and all you can do is hope Tanaka is alright.
We have seen this happen to many pitchers throughout the league, and each time it happens there is a different recovery time. That being said, nobody quite knows how much time Tanaka will miss.
With the season set to start on July 23rd, the Yankees are going to need Tanaka sooner, rather than later. Heading into the season, the Yankees rotation is set to look a little something like this:
- Gerrit Cole
- Masahiro Tanaka
- James Paxton
- J.A. Happ
- Jordan Montgomery (bullpen game)
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With Luis Severino and Domingo German each out for the season (Severino because of Tommy John Surgery, German because of suspension) the Yankees are already a little short when it comes to the starting rotation.
This being said, if Tanaka misses any time, the Yankees would be in an even tougher spot. It is assumed that Clarke Schmidt will get called up at some point to join the starting rotation, but now it could be even sooner than expected.
If Schmidt is needed to start the season, the Yankees will need the top half of their rotation to be really strong to make up for the lack of experience from Schmidt, and the bullpen game they’ll need to use every fifth game.
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If Tanaka’s injury is severe, the Yankees are going to be between a rock and a hard place to begin the 2020 MLB Season.