Just minutes after the Yankees opened spring 2.0 practice at The Bronx, Masahiro Tanaka suffered a terrifying injury when he grabbed a line to the right side of his head from Giancarlo Stanton’s bat during a simulated game on Saturday.
Tanaka immediately fell onto the mound, and the action stopped as the coaches rushed to the mound. He stood still for about five minutes before sitting down. They helped him up and he left the field with the help of two coaches.
Tanaka was brought to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital for further evaluation and testing. The Yankees later announced that Tanaka was “alert, receptive, and walking under her own power,” and the team announced later that night that Tanaka had been released from the hospital and would enter the concussion protocol.
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“I appreciate all the support,” Tanaka wrote on Twitter. “I’m a little sorry right now, but I’m fine. I’m going to try to get back to the mound as soon as possible! Thanks again for all the words of encouragement! ”
Tanaka faced Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres before Stanton reached the plate, and Stanton doubled over as soon as the ball hit Tanaka. Stanton knows the effects of being hit in the face very well, having suffered a broken jaw when he was punctured by a Mike Fiers pitch in 2014 when Stanton was with the Marlins.
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“It stops you cold,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It is definitely a moment that draws your attention in a big way.”
It was a disastrous start for the Yankees. Players began reporting on Wednesday after the three-month layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic followed by the labor dispute between MLB and the players’ association.
“It was horrible,” said Jordan Montgomery, who was finishing warming up before climbing onto the mound. “To look and see everyone huddled around him.”
New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka lies on the field after being hit by a ball from Yankees bat Giancarlo Stanton during baseball training at Yankee Stadium in New York on Saturday, July 4, 2020 . (Associated Press)
When training resumed several minutes later, Montgomery replaced Tanaka, throwing behind an L-screen, and most of the players who had scattered across the field had moved to the shelter.
Montgomery said he applied for the screen after Tanaka’s injury.
“I was a little shy after seeing that,” Montgomery said. “I had not planned to use [the screen]. After seeing that, I had it on the back of my head. … I was a little shocked. “
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Boone said the team “always” gives pitchers the option to use the screen.
Aaron Hicks said it was difficult to see.
“Especially during something as simple as a pretend game,” he said, “[but] every time you step on a field, anything can happen. “
It’s been an ugly 2020 for the big leagues, and also for most other places, and on Saturday it only got worse for the Yankees. Tanaka, 31, is entering the final season of his seven-year contract. He was 11-9 with a 4.45 ERA in 32 games (31 starts) in 2019.
New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is treated by the team’s medical staff after being hit by a ball from Yankees bat Giancarlo Stanton during baseball training at Yankee Stadium in New York on Saturday 4 July 2020. (Associated Press)
After the forced coronavirus shutdown in March, an unseemly public dispute erupted between the league and the union before MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred implemented a 60-game schedule, scheduled to begin on July 23 or 24.
There was concern that players were more susceptible to injury, especially pitchers, due to the extensive layoff and a brief restart of spring training before the start of the shortened regular season.
The Yankees already dealt with many injuries this spring: With Judge closed by a fractured rib that he probably suffered last September, Stanton was sidelined by a strained calf, and James Paxton slowed down with a back injury that required surgery.
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But Boone had repeatedly said that pausing the sport could benefit his team by allowing Judge, Paxton and Stanton to regain their health, and for Hicks to return from offseason Tommy John surgery without wasting time.
Now they may have to deal with an injury from Tanaka, which would cut them short in the rotation, with Jonathan Loaisiga, Clarke Schmidt, Deivi Garcia or Mike King potentially replacing Gerrit Cole, Paxton, JA Happ and Montgomery. Luis Severino will be out for the year following Tommy John’s surgery, and Domingo German will also miss the season while on the suspended list after violating the league’s domestic violence protocol last year.
“We hope you have avoided something really bad,” Boone said of Tanaka.
