Masahiro Tanaka is on the road to recovery ever since hitting the disabled list in late April with wrist tendinitis and a forearm strain. He took a big step in his journey to return to the New York Yankees' starting rotation on Thursday.
The right-hander tossed three scoreless innings and struck out two batters in his first rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His fastball was consistently in the 90-91 mph range, according to Fred Kerber of the New York Post.
Upon Tanaka hitting the DL back in April, the Yankees said the 26-year-old was expected to be out at least a month, and that's what seems to be the case. Tanaka could be back with New York in early June if all goes well with the remainder of his rehab assignments.
Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com says Thursday's start was likely the first of "at least" three rehab outings for the Japanese pitcher, but other factors will be determinant in his return to the MLB.
"The real test will come Friday morning, of course, when Tanaka wakes up and takes inventory of an already compromised right arm that had not used in a ballgame since April 23. Assuming a normal rehab process Tanaka could rejoin the Yankees rotation by the first week of June," Matthews wrote.
The good news is that Tanaka used all of his pitches on Thursday night and he struck out batters with his splitter and slider. However, Matthews noted the right-hander had "some difficulty" locating his fastball, but that's not too alarming because Tanaka has not thrown in a game environment for nearly a month.
Additionally, it was 59 degrees during game-time last night so it's possible Tanaka was a bit tight and took some time before loosening up throughout his 45-pitch outing.
Nonetheless, assuming Tanaka's arm examinations check out and he continues to prove he's capable of maintaining consistency with his pitches, he'll be back in the Yankees' rotation very soon.
