New York Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka has left the team and is headed back to New York to undergo an MRI on his pitching arm, George R. King III of the New York Post reports.
The Yankees ace is coming off his worst start of his rookie season, surrendering 10 hits and five runs over 6 2/3 innings in Tuesday’s 5-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
Despite the rough outing, however, the 25-year-old has put together a solid campaign that was strong enough to get him named to the American League All-Star team. Tanaka has compiled a 2.51 ERA and racked up 135 strikeouts while allowing only 19 walks over 129 1/3 innings and 18 starts.
But the Japanese star has struggled of late, losing three of his past four decisions, and he told the Yankees he was feeling some “discomfort” after the loss to the Tribe, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman.
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Tanaka added that the reason for his poor performance would have been too difficult to describe for him, but when pushed, he explained that his command was off.
Update (5:07 p.m.): The Yankees have announced that Tanaka has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with elbow inflammation.
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