Masahiro Tanaka is on the disabled list due to some inflammation in his shoulder, but he could be back with the Yankees as soon as next week, per WFAN’s Sweeny Murti (Twitter link). Murti also notes that lefty CC Sabathia is slated to come off the DL on Saturday. Tanaka will throw a bullpen session tomorrow, and if that goes well, he’ll return to the rotation next week against the Tigers. Demonstrating that this is a minor issue will be key for Tanaka and the Yankees; Tanaka has pitched quite well over his past nine starts and been solid dating back to late May, perhaps positioning him to opt out of the remaining three years on his contract. And the Yankees, of course, are currently in possession of an AL Wild Card spot and are also 4.5 games back of the Red Sox in the AL East.
A few more injury updates of note from around the league…
- The Angels have received some good news on the rotation front, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. Left-hander Andrew Heaney will return to the mound on Friday in Baltimore — his first big league appearance in roughly 16 months. Heaney underwent Tommy John surgery last year — one of many blows to what had looked on paper to be a promising Angels pitching staff. Now 26 years of age, Heaney turned in 105 2/3 innings of 3.49 ERA ball with 6.6 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in his first season with the Halos back in 2015. A healthy Heaney would be a boost to a surging Angels club that now finds itself in the thick of the AL Wild Card race. Fletcher also tweeted yesterday that, per manager Mike Scioscia, right-hander Garrett Richards will face hitters later this week, though it’s not yet clear when Richards could return to a big league mound.
- Left-hander Jake Diekman is getting closer to returning to the Rangers’ bullpen. Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets that Diekman will begin a rehab assignment with the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate on Thursday, during which he’s slated to throw 15 pitches. The 30-year-old southpaw was a key piece of the Texas bullpen in 2015-16 after coming over from the Phillies alongside Cole Hamels, but he’s yet to pitch this season due to a trio of surgeries he’s undergone to combat ulcerative colitis.
- The Athletics announced yesterday that right-hander Bobby Wahl’s season is over after he underwent surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. TOS surgery has become increasingly popular in recent seasons, though the success rate on it doesn’t appear to be as high as other common surgeries for pitchers. The 25-year-old Wahl posted terrific numbers in Double-A and Triple-A last season, and he made his big league debut with Oakland earlier in 2017. In 7 2/3 frames, he allowed four runs on eight hits and four walks with eight strikeouts.
- The Mets placed right-hander Seth Lugo on the 10-day DL yesterday with an impingement in his right shoulder, and Lugo emphasized today that he doesn’t feel surgery is required for either his previously injured elbow or his shoulder, as MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes. Lugo is hopeful of missing just one or two starts with his current issue. “The doctors said this is an inoperable situation,” said Lugo. “…Surgery’s not even a though.” Lugo missed the first two months of the season after being diagnosed with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
- Nationals manager Dusty Baker gave some quick updates on a number of ailing players, writes Byron Kerr of MASNsports.com. Outfielder Jayson Werth is still going through a running program and isn’t yet ready for a rehab assignment, per Baker. Werth will need to play consecutive nine-inning games before being activated. Baker also revealed that while he initially thought right-hander Ryan Madson was dealing with a blister issue on his finger, it appears that is not the case. Madson has “something in his finger” that the Nats are currently analyzing. Bryce Harper, meanwhile, is traveling with the team as he gets treatment on his injured left knee.
I’d like to see the Yanks get tanaka back for the stretch run. think he’s be of a lot more help than sabathia, if only one can come back and be that big push for a WC spot.
Well you could tell Tanaka did not want to be pulled from his last start, I’d rather see him over CC because unlike CC Tanaka has dominant stuff he can still through, imagine if the Yankees Brass would of let him get the surgery he needed his rookie season he would be all healed up and be a start of the rotation pitcher this year
Throw. The Yankees brass wanted him to have surgery. He would not. Instead stopped throwing hard and pitched more scared of blowing his arm. I think he’s crazy to opt out after this year unless he’s lights out rest of way and Yanks win World Series against Dodgers.
Tanaka is really the Yankees 4th best starter at this point, which says alot about Severino and Montgomery’s development. If you have Tanaka as your number 4, that’s not a bad thing. Paying him to pitch like an Ace, and he’s not, is bad. If he comes back and has a strong September, and pitches like an Ace, he’ll opt out, and he will get paid again. Players are greedy and will almost always go for the extra nickel if they can. CC I could see retiring after this year if his knees are as shot as it appears. Even if CC wants to grind out another season on those shaky knees, the Yanks have enough depth to wish him well, and let him walk.