Masahiro Tanaka set to rejoin Yankees starting rotation

After missing a month with a forearm strain and wrist tendonitis, New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka appears ready to rejoin the rotation. After just two rehab starts in Triple-A Tanaka flew with the Yankees to Oakland on Thursday for the start of seven-game West Coast road trip.

Tanaka will start in Seattle on Tuesday or Wednesday and will have an 80-pitch limit in his first start, Yankees manager Joe Girardi told USA Today.

“You want him to feel good, number one,” Girardi said. “Number two, you want him to feel comfortable with his stuff, that he feels that he’s ready to go. You don’t want someone going out there if they don’t quite feel that they’re ready to go. In a perfect world, he would start somewhere in Seattle.

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The big thing is we have to know how he feels,” Girardi said. “… He had no issues yesterday. He said he felt good today. So you’ve got to believe him. And I think if he wasn’t throwing 93, and you saw things where his slider wasn’t sharp, you’d think: OK, maybe he’s not being honest with us. But with those things, I think you have to believe him.”

Tanaka, an All Star in 2014 in his rookie major-league season, made just four starts this season before going on the disabled list. Before the season even began he admitted he had lost some velocity and was trying to change his pitching style. It’s no surprise that the Yankees have been cautious with their ace, especially after seeing another young pitcher, Chase Whitley, go down with an injury and ultimately require Tommy John surgery.

Despite the preseason concerns, Tanaka looked no worse for wear before he hit the DL. He was 2-1 with a 3.22 ERA, 24 strikeouts in 22 innings, and a 0.940 WHIP. The Yankees could use him, too. They’re still in first place in the AL East but are 3-7 in their last 10.

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Ian Denomme is an editor and writer for Yahoo Sports. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.