A pleasant sight was experienced by the New York Yankees during the weekend as pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was back on the mound and is throwing again, just a few months removed from an elbow surgery.
Tanaka was plagued by injuries during his first two years in Major League Baseball (MLB) and after the 2015 season underwent a medical procedure last October to remove a bone spur in his elbow.
But all that are in the past as Tanaka did well last Saturday and is having great progress with his recovery.
According to reports, Tanaka was at the George M. Steinbrenner Field Saturday for his first mound session since the surgery and threw 20 pitches.
Then on Sunday, the 27-year-old pitcher told Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild that he did not experience any setbacks following the session.
"Good, nice. Didn't try to push it too much," Rothschild said last Sunday, according to the New York Daily News.
"He wasn't midseason form, but he was where he should be. His arm worked well. It didn't look like there were any problems and today (Sunday) he felt good, which is more important," Rothschild added.
Since arriving in the MLB, Tanaka quickly made an impact for the Yankees and became an ace.
Unfortunately, injuries became a major issue for the Japanese star limiting him to only 44 games played and started in two seasons.
Tanaka started in 24 games (12–7) last season and in 154 innings pitched, had a 3.51 earned run average (ERA), 139 strikeouts, and 0.99 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP).
The mound session of Tanaka last Saturday is great news for the Yankees who ended a two-year playoff drought last season.
New York finished second in the American League (AL) East in the 2015 season and made it to the playoffs but failed to beat the Houston Astros in the Wild Card Game.
