Doctors confirmed New York Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka has a partially torn UCL in his right elbow and will miss a minimum of six weeks. He rehab his elbow during the next few weeks to see if he can avoid Tommy John elbow surgery, which would keep him sidelined until 2016.
In his first MLB season Tanaka. 25, has posted a 12-4 record and a 2.51 ERA in his first 18 starts, making the All-Star team.
The Yankees invested $175 million in Masahiro Tanaka before this season, giving him a seven-year, $155 million contract while also paying a $20 million posting fee to his Japanese club, the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova are already out for the season while Michael Pineda is also on the disabled list, leaving the healthy members of the Yankees rotation as Hiroki Kuroda, Brandon McCarthy, David Phelps and Shane Greene.
