How did Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka do in Triple-A rehab start? On track to return before All-Star break?

by Felix Pantaleón

Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka landed on the 10-day disabled list last month with a pair of strained hamstrings. He made a rehab start on Wednesday, July 4, 2018 (7/4/18) for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and could return to the rotation before the All-Star break.

Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka appears on track to return to the rotation, perhaps as early as before the All-Star break, after a rehab start Wednesday for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.

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Tanaka pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter in the RailRiders’ 4-2 victory.

Here are the details of the appearance, per ESPN:

Tanaka threw 49 of 69 pitches for strikes against the Buffalo Bisons, the Toronto Blue Jays’ Triple-A team. He gave up a two-run homer in the first inning but then cruised through the next four innings, retiring 12 batters in a row before being pulled for a new pitcher.

Tanaka landed on the 10-day disabled list after straining both of his hamstrings while scoring from third base on a sacrifice fly in a 4-1 win over the Mets on Friday, June 8th.

Before going down, Tanaka was 7-2 with a 4.58 ERA in 13 starts.

Tanaka was the second starter to land on the DL this season. Jordan Montgomery is out for the year after having Tommy John surgery.

Those injuries, when combined with inconsistent pitching from Sonny Gray and Domingo German, has general manager Brian Cashman shopping for starting pitching before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline.

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Among the pitchers who have been linked to the Yankees are Texas Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels, Toronto Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ, Detroit Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer and Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Chris Archer.

The Yankees will get an up-close look at Happ on Saturday, when he gets the start opposing Yankees ace Luis Severino, who will be going for his MLB-best 14th win of the season.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.