Following Saturday’s scary accident, New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has been diagnosed with a mild concussion. He was hit by a come-backer off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton in a simulated game.
The line drive was estimated to be about 112mph off the bat, hitting the Japanese born pitcher square in the head. He went down on the ground for a few minutes, before being assisted off the mound. After, he was taken to the New York-Presbyterian Hospital for testing. His CT scan came clean and he was released a few hours later.
On Sunday, he was reportedly in the Yankee clubhouse and acting normal. He still had his personality and it didn’t seem like anything happened just 24 hours prior. He underwent concussion protocol was diagnosed with a mild concussion.
Tanaka dodged a major bullet. If he was hit in the right spot, he could have been seriously injured or his life could have even been threatened. It’s even more impressive too see that he was okay especially since it was off the bat of Giancarlo Stanton, one of the most powerful hitters in baseball history.
A serious injury to Tanaka would have been devastating. The team is already down two pitchers with Luis Severino and Domingo German, and a third pitcher down would mean the team would have to go searching again. They likely would have turned to Clarke Schmidt or Deivi Garcia.
But fortunately, they won’t need to do that. With the concussion being mild and time until Opening Day, it’s likely he won’t go on the IL, at least not right away. Hopefully his recovery will go fast and we will see him back on the mound soon.