Tanaka might be able to avoid surgery, but we've heard that story before.
Yankees rookie starter Masahiro Tanaka has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow and is expected to miss at least six weeks, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters on Thursday.
Tanaka saw three different doctors, per Cashman (via Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News), and all three diagnosed the same injury. The Yankees believe the injury can be healed with platelet-rich plasma injections and a throwing program, according to Ben Shpigel of the New York Times, thus avoiding Tommy John surgery in the short-term.
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The injury is a new one that didn't appear in the MRI that Tanaka underwent in January before signing with the Yankees, Cashman told Feinsand. The Yankees inked Tanaka to a seven-year, $155 million deal after paying a $20 million posting fee in order to negotiate with the 25-year-old right-hander.
Tanaka appeared to be worth every bit of the $22 million owed to him this season, posting a 2.51 ERA with 135 strikeouts and only 19 walks in 129⅓ innings prior to the injury. However, Tanaka did not look right in his last start, surrendering five runs on 10 hits in 6⅔ innings against the Indians on Tuesday before being sent back to New York for an MRI.
Now, the Yankees have to hope that the rehab plan works for their star hurler. While there have been some success stories, such as Takashi Saito in 2008, and not every UCL injury is created equal, recent history says PRP treatment might not work for Tanaka. One recent case involves Orioles pitching prospect Dylan Bundy, who received PRP injections early last season that didn't take and resulted in him needing Tommy John surgery a few months later.